Autumn Glow crowned 2025/26 Horse Of The Year

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

Autumn Glow’s trainer Chris Waller and his team took out a large portion of the awards at the 2025/26 Australian Racehorse Of The Year Awards. This year’s event was hosted by the NSW Racehorse Owners Association (NSWROA) and Racing NSW and were held at the Winx Stand at Royal Randwick on August 28, 2026. The judging panel is comprised of racing media, handicappers and form analysts from around Australia.

Autumn Glow is Horse Of The Year

Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) won Australian Horse Of The Year with 110 votes from Half Yours (St Jean {Ire}) (69 votes), Sheza Alibi (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) (67 votes), last year's winner Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock) (66 votes) and Sir Delius (GB) (Frankel {GB}) (65 votes).

A star from the moment she was born, Autumn Glow was sold by Newhaven Park Stud for $600,000 at the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale in 2022. Pinhooked by Silverdale Farm, they took her to the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale where she was claimed by Arrowfield Stud and Hermitage Thoroughbreds for a mighty $1.8 million.

A half-sister to Group 1 winner and sire In The Congo, she is out of Champion South African racemare and Group 1 winner Via Africa (Saf) (Var {USA}).

Unbeaten at three in 2024/25, Autumn Glow was unbeaten in the spring of 2025 with four victories including the G1 Epsom Handicap and the Golden Eagle (which was upgraded to Group 1 status after this).

In the autumn, she returned in the same form, winning three in succession to take her unbeaten streak to 11 including winning the G1 Verry Elleegant Stakes and G1 George Ryder Stakes. She faced her first career defeat when third in the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Autumn Glow also won the Champion Middle Distance Horse with 114 votes over nearest rivals Via Sistina on 101 votes, and Sir Delius on 97 votes.

Trained by Chris Waller, she resumed this season with victory in the G1 Winx Stakes to take her career record to 12 wins from 13 starts and earnings over $9 million.

Chris Waller’s crew dominates the season

Chris Waller’s dominance over the 2025/26 season continued with three of his team taking Champion awards at the Australian Racehorse of the Year Awards on Thursday night. He won the top Group 1 trainer for the 14th time.

Waller-trained Autumn Glow won Horse Of The Year and Champion Middle Distance Horse. Autumn Boy (The Autumn Sun) was crowned Champion 3-Year-Old Colt/Gelding and Joliestar (Zoustar) won Champion Sprinter.

Stable jockey James McDonald broke the season record for Group 1 wins with 17 elite level victories took out Champion Group 1 Jockey for the sixth straight year.

Guest House wins Champion 2-Year-Old

G1 Golden Slipper winning colt Guest House (Home Affairs) easily won the Champion 2-Year-Old title with 191 votes over G1 Blue Diamond Stakes victrix Streisand (Magnus) who got 98 votes. Campione D’Italia (Snitzel) was third with tally of 65 votes.

Of the 1957 horses nominated for the G1 Golden Slipper of 2026, it was the $270,000 Home Affairs colt who took out final honours. Purchased by his trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr along with Roll The Dice Racing from Newgate Farm’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft, Guest House won two of his four starts at two.

Raced by a large syndicate led by Roll The Dice Racing, Guest House was a winner on debut at Moonee Valley in late-December. He then placed in the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (C&G) and the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes before heading to Sydney to win the G1 Golden Slipper. Subsequently he was bought by Coolmore Stud in a $30 million deal with his racing owners retaining ownership for the remainder of his racing career.

He resumes on Saturday in the G3 San Domenico Stakes.

Champion 3-Year-Old Colt/Gelding won by Autumn Boy

The battle for Champion 3-Year-Old Colt or Gelding was tight with Autumn Boy’s 136 votes just sneaking him ahead of dual Group 1 winner Tentyris who garnered 130 votes.

Owned by Ritchies Racing and trained by Chris Waller, Autumn Boy was sold by Amarina Farm at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $200,000 to Waller Racing and Mulcaster Bloodstock.

Unbeaten in two starts at two, Autumn Boy had seven starts in 2025/26 winning twice. In the spring, he won the G1 Caulfield Guineas and in the autumn he was victorious in the G1 Rosehill Guineas. He also placed in the G1 Randwick Guineas and G1 Doncaster Handicap.

The winner of four of his nine starts, he has earnings over $3.4 million. He resumes for this season in Saturday’s G1 Memsie Stakes.

Sheza Alibi is Champion 3-Year-Old Filly

Third in the voting for Horse Of The Year, Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained Sheza Alibi took out Champion 3-Year-Old Filly title with 197 votes over Tempted (Street Cry {Ire}) on 118 votes.

Bought by Fred Noffke for $10,000 via Inglis Digital as a weanling from Middlebrook Valley Lodge, she won two of her four starts in Queensland for trainer Kris Hansen before being transferred to Moody and Coleman for her 3-year-old season.

Third when resuming behind Tentyris in the Listed Gothic Stakes, Sheza Alibi then strung together five wins in succession all at group level including the G1 Randwick Guineas and G1 Doncaster Handicap.

She resumed at four last weekend, when second to newly crowned Horse Of The Year Autumn Glow in the G1 Winx Stakes. She has won seven of her 11 starts and over $3.9 million.

Champion Sprinter won by Joliestar

Cambridge Stud-owned Joliestar was an easy winner in the Champion Sprint Category with 142 votes over her nearest rival Tempted on 65 votes, with Tentyris on 52 votes.

The Chris Waller-trained mare, who is now a 6-year-old, won the G2 The Shorts when resuming in the spring before finishing fifth behind the ineligible for HOTY voting Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) in the G1 The Everest. She ran third in the G1 Champions Sprint to conclude her spring. Back in the autumn, she was unbeaten in three starts including winning the G1 Canterbury Stakes and G1 TJ Smith Stakes.

Sent to England for Royal Ascot, Joliestar was third in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

A $950,000 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale graduate when offered by Segenhoe Stud and bought by Cambridge Stud, Joliestar has ten career victories (four in 2025/26) from 22 starts with earnings over $9.2 million.

Champion Stayer goes to Cups double

Winning the two big spring Cups pretty much guarantees a horse the Champion Stayer title, but Half Yours had to fight for it in 2025/26 with 195 votes over Aeliana (NZ) (Castelvecchio) who gained 122 votes.

Bred and initially raced by Halo Racing, Half Yours was purchased by Belmont Bloodstock and McEvoy Racing for $305,000 at the 2023 November Inglis Digital Sale as a tried horse. Prior to that, he’d won two of his five starts for the Ciaron Maher stable.

With eleven owners in his new syndicate, and now in the Tony and Calvin McEvoy stable, he came into the 2024/25 season after winning the Listed Caloundra Cup in the Queensland winter. He won the G3 Naturalism Stakes at his second run for the spring. After a fourth in the G1 Turnbull Stakes, he won both the G1 Caulfield Cup and G1 Melbourne Cup.

Back in the autumn and winter, he had four starts for three fourth placings all in group company.

All told, his career figures are eight wins from 19 starts with earnings over $9.8 million.

Table: 2025/26 Horse Of The Year winners by category

NSW Awards for 2025/26

On the same night, the Racing NSW annual awards were announced with Chris Waller winning his 15th Bart Cummings Award. Voted on by seven Sydney based journalist, Waller garnered 148 points in the award from James McDonald on 91 and Zac Lloyd on 79.

“It goes without saying that this is an unprecedented, but worthy, recognition of Chris Waller’s ongoing achievements and he has our sincerest congratulations. It’s also fitting that he receives this award after a season where he trained his 200th Group 1 winner,” Graeme Hinton, Racing NSW Acting Chief Executive, said.

“As Chris will tell you it is a team effort and to win the Bart Cummings Medal for the fifteenth time and TJ Smith award a sixteenth time underlines how effective his world class operation is.”

The NSW Personality of the Year went to trainer Joe Pride whose 74 wins for the season included four Group 1 victories. Attica (Lonhro) in the G1 Spring Champion Stakes, Ceolwulf (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) won his second G1 King Charles III Stakes as well as the G1 Champions Mile, and Headley Grange (Exosphere) won the G1 Kingsford Smith Cup.

“Joe Pride has a remarkable and rare gift to improve tried, older racehorses combined with this ability to develop emerging talent resulted in his stable’s career-best season in 2025/26,” Journalist Ray Thomas said.

“Joe Pride always finds time for media interviews either, TV, radio, print or digital. He is polite and very accommodating, and a great advertisement for our sport.”

Brett and Georgie Cavanough’s employee Stephanie Alexander won the Sydney Strapper of the Year award.

“Stephanie has been an integral part of every stage of Cavanough Racing’s success. An elite horsewoman with exceptional horse handling, horse breaking and riding skills, she has proved an irreplaceable member of our team. Stephanie is a devoted and tirelessly hard worker who has a work ethic second-to-none,” said the stable.

She is a fantastic leader and very capable individual who leads a successful team. Presentation of herself and the horses is always of the highest standard and, after 13 years, she is one of our most valued team members.”

Table: 2025/26 NSW Horse Of The Year winners by category