breednet.com.au

Group I Australian Racing – The Season That Was

Tara Madgwick - Sunday June 27

The Group I Tatts Tiara at Eagle Fam last Saturday won by Tofane was the final Group I contest of the Australian racing season, so we’ve had a look through the stats to see where the best of the best have come from.

We had 59 individual Group I winners of 75 Group I races and the multiple Group I winners were: Verry Elleegant (NZ) (5), Arcadia Queen (2), Behemoth (2), Eduardo (2), Explosive Jack (NZ) (2), Hungry Heart (2), Kolding (NZ) (2), Montefilia (2), Ole Kirk (2), Nature Strip (2), Probabeel (NZ) (2), Sir Dragonet (IRE) (2) and Tofane (NZ) (2).

Verry Ellegant was the dominant performer in Australia this season by quite a margin! - image Steve Hart

So based on that, Kiwi bred mare Verry  Eleegant is the only choice for Australian Horse of the Year for 2021.

Aus Bred

Australian bred horses accounted for the lion’s share of Group I winners as seen in the table below.
 

Country of origin

Number of Australian G1 winners

Australia

38

New Zealand

10

GB/ Ireland

8

USA

1

Japan

1

South Africa

1



The Price of a G1 Winner

Not as expensive as you may think with three Group I winners purchased for less than $10,000 at public auction in Media Award ($5,000 at Inglis Melbourne Gold), Behemoth ($6,000 at MM National Yearling Sale) and Savatoxl ($8,000 at Inglis Vobis Gold).

G1 SAJC Australasian Oaks winner Media Award was bought as a yearling for $5,00

Most expensive Group I winners were Ole Kirk ($675,000 at Inglis Premier), Personal ($640,000 at Inglis Easter ) and Captivant ($550,000 at Magic Millions).

Group I Sires

Stallions with more than one Group I winner were:

Frankel (GB)  (3) – Hungry Heart, Converge, Mirage Dancer
Shamus Award (3) – Duais, Media Award, Mr Quickie
Written Tycoon (3) – Ole Kirk, Odeum, Frankel
All Too Hard (2) – Forbidden Love, Behemoth
Camelot (IRE) – Russian Camelot, Sir Dragonet
Exceed and Excel (2) – Bivouac, September Run
Not  a Single Doubt (2) – Shout the Bar, Instant Celebrity
Ocean Park (2) – Koldin, Tofane
Street Boss (USA) (2)- Anamoe, Elite Street
Savabeel (2) – Probabeel, Mo’Unga

Broodmare sires with more than one Group I winner were:

More Than Ready (USA) (4) – Media Award, Celebrity Queen, Bivouac, Forbidden Love
Redoute’s Choice  (4) – Arcadia Queen, Anamoe, Savatiano, Artorius
Red Ransom (USA) (3) – Odeum, Homesman, Selino
Zabeel (3) – Think It Over, Johnny Get Angry, Inspirational Girl
Galileo (2) – Personal, Tofane
General Nediym (2) – Mr Quickie, Hey Doc
O’Reilly (2) – Shout the Bar, Mo’Unga
Oasis Dream (2) – Sir Dragonet, Twilight Payment
Street Cry (IRE) (2) – Cascadian, September Run

 

Advertisment
More Reading...
Sires With Winners - Friday June 27
Here is the full list of 48 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Cambridge Stud to Sell Entire Draft at Karaka 2026
Leading thoroughbred nursery Cambridge Stud have committed their full support for NZB’s 2026 National Yearling Sales Series, with the announcement they will be selling 100% of their yearling stock at Karaka. 
Sires With Winners - Wednesday June 25
Here is the full list of 42 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Breeding To Win – 2025 G1 Tatts Tiara
With Royal Ascot done and dusted for another year, let's turn our attention to the final G1 of the Australian racing season as some very expensive mares seek to land that elusive G1 and three runners will carry the Yulong colours!
Red Right Out Wins MM Queensland Qualifier
The 2026 Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo & Showjumping will feature the third annual Queensland Off-The-Track Cup (QOTT) final on Sunday, 11 January 2026 at Doug Jennings Park on the Gold Coast. 
Juvenile Trial Watch – Randwick
Trial action was at Randwick on Friday and there were six heats for juveniles that included some interesting unraced youngsters highlighted by the full brother to a promising young sire, a well bred son of Farnan and an Extreme Choice filly.
First Winner for Australian Derby Winner Levendi
Blueblood Pierro colt Levendi won the Group I ATC Australian Derby for the Gelagotis stable back in 2018 and is now on the board as a sire having produced his first winner on Friday.
Do Early Winners Equate to Long Term Stud Success?
As we move towards the end of the racing season, attention invariably focuses on first season sires and who will be the leader of the cohort by winners and it’s a close run race this year, but does any of it matter in the grand scheme of things?
$190,000 Per Incanto Colt Heads Vibrant Weanling Sale
The  2025 National Weanling Sale saw its first dual-code weanling session in play at Karaka, with a total aggregate of $2,410,000 outlaid across 84 lots by a strong domestic buying bench plus international support from Australia, Hong Kong and China.
Mulberry Racing Secure Everest Slot
Racing NSW today announced that Mulberry Racing has secured a slot in the $20 million TAB Everest for a term of three years commencing with the running of this year’s race.