Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Nominations for the 2026 Golden Slipper, to be run at Rosehill Gardens on March 21, closed on July 2 at 5pm. Open for horses born in 2023, there have been 1927 horses nominated in the first round for the 2-year-old contest.
The 2023 foal crop in Australia is 13,324 foals, while in New Zealand, there were 2744 foals born in 2023. While the number of NZ born foals nominated for the Golden Slipper is traditionally small, it is not zero, and all up 12 per cent of the horses born in ANZ in 2023 have been nominated for the Golden Slipper. To date, 336 of the horses nominated have been named.
Which stallions are represented?
Across the 1957 nominations, there are 152 different stallions represented, at an average of 12 foals each. The top ten stallions are responsible for 32 per cent of all nominations, being 612 of the 1927 rising 2-year-olds whose connections paid up for the first round of nominations.
I Am Invincible | Standing at Yarraman Park
Of these top ten, and leading the charge is that I Am Invincible with 90 nominations despite having only two Group 1-winning juveniles, Vinrock and Move To Strike, in his impressive stallion career which covers 118 stakes winners and 17 Group 1 winners. Among the top ten sires by volume, I Am Invincible also has the highest percentage of his crop of rising 2-year-olds nominated at 74 per cent.
First season sire Home Affairs, a son of I Am Invincible, and whose stock sold so well as yearlings is second with 75 nominations, an impressive 53 per cent of his first crop. Fellow first season sire and G1 Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside comes in fourth with 66 nominations, which is 54 per cent of his first crop.
Home Affairs | Standing at Coolmore Australia
Winner of this year’s Golden Slipper with Marhoona, Snitzel sits comfortably in third with 63 per cent of his crop of rising 2-year-olds being given a nomination by connections, and in raw numbers that’s 71 individuals.
Proven sires Zoustar, Too Darn Hot (GB), and Written Tycoon are joined by second season sires Wootton Bassett (GB), Farnan and Ole Kirk in rounding out the top ten.
| I Am Invincible | 90 | 121 | 74% |
| Home Affairs | 75 | 141 | 53% |
| Snitzel | 71 | 113 | 63% |
| Stay Inside | 66 | 122 | 54% |
| Zoustar | 61 | 122 | 50% |
| Wootton Bassett (GB) | 57 | 98 | 58% |
| Too Darn Hot (GB) | 56 | 88 | 64% |
| Written Tycoon | 51 | 108 | 47% |
| Farnan | 45 | 111 | 41% |
| Ole Kirk | 40 | 99 | 40% |
Table: Top ten stallions
Colts and fillies split
The split between colts and fillies is evenly balanced with 979 fillies (51 per cent), 945 colts, and three geldings nominated.
| Colt | 945 | 49% |
| Filly | 979 | 51% |
| Gelding | 3 | 0% |
| Total | 1927 |
Table: Split of the 2026 Golden Slipper nominations by horse gender
Who has the most potential contenders?
The list of nominated horses includes the name of the person or organisation who nominated the horse. Across the 1927 horses, they were nominated by 179 different entities, an average of just over 10 horses each, and the list includes 52 people who only nominated one horse.
Yu Long Investments lead the chart with 115 horses nominated, while seven-time winner Gai Waterhouse and training partner Adrian Bott have nominated 107 horses. Godolphin comes in third with 95 nominations, followed by the large stables of Chris Waller (94) and Ciaron Maher (91).
| Yu Long Investments (Aust) Pty Ltd | 115 |
| Waterhouse & Bott | 107 |
| Godolphin | 95 |
| Chris Waller Racing | 94 |
| Ciaron Maher Racing | 91 |
| Ben, Will & JD Hayes | 65 |
| Bjorn Baker Racing | 60 |
| Freedman M J | 60 |
| Annabel & Rob Archibald | 56 |
| Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr) | 50 |
| Anthony & Sam Freedman | 47 |
| Gollan T | 46 |
| Lees KL | 36 |
| Tony & Calvin McEvoy | 35 |
| Darby Racing | 32 |
| Hawkes M, W & J | 29 |
| John O'Shea & Tom Charlton | 28 |
| Richard & Will Freedman | 26 |
| Widdup B | 26 |
| Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young | 25 |
Table: Top 20 nominators in the 2026 Golden Slipper
