As the racing season comes to end, racing writer Justin Devine looks back at the highlights and identifies the best performances of the year.
Trainer of the Year
Ciaron Maher & David Eustace From humble beginnings around the western districts of Victoria, Ciaron Maher’s training career continues to flourish. Since teaming up with David Eustace in 2018/19 the team have gone from strength to strength. The Melbourne premiership-winning stable has had considerable success in the middle distance and staying races, preparing 2020 Cox Plate winner SIR DRAGONET and multiple derby winner EXPLOSIVE JACK. With a team of emerging stayers, they could be set for a big spring.
Chris Waller With 300+ winners for the year, the Waller stable continues to be a force in Australian racing. He may have a big team, but he gets the results. 15 Group 1 wins spread over eight different horses for the season is a testament to his ability to get his horses to peak at the right time. While VERRY ELLEEGANT (5 Group 1 wins 2020/21) has taken over from WINX to be the stable superstar, Waller also prepared NATURE STRIP, HUNGRY HEART and KOLDING to be multiple Group 1 winners for the season. A 15% win strike rate is outstanding when you consider that Waller has multiple runners in most races.
Tony Gollan It has been another great season for the Queensland based Tony Gollan stable. With 160+ winners including group 1 success with KRONE and VEGA ONE the stable continues to rise to the challenges presented by their rivals. Despite having a large number of runners, the stable has managed to return a positive ROI, a remarkable achievement.
🏆 Chris Waller
Jockey of the Year
James McDonald With eight Group 1 wins and a further 29 black-type victories for the season, JMAC just keeps getting the job done. He gets his mounts into the best spots and reaps the rewards. His domination of some Sydney meetings during the season needed to be seen to be believed.
Jamie Kah Jamie Kah became the first jockey to ride 100+ metro winners in Melbourne for the season. When you add four Group 1s, including a peach of a ride to win the Stradbroke on VEGA ONE it is easy to see why Jamie is capturing the hearts of sports fans around Australia. Horses run for her. It is that simple!
William Pike The Wizard continues to dominate racing in the West and his partnership with prominent owner/breeder Bob Peters is showing no signs of slowing down. The team combined to win their third Group 1 Railway Stakes in four years with INSPIRATIONAL GIRL while another Peters star ARCADIA QUEEN was given a 10/10 ride to defeat RUSSIAN CAMELOT in the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes in the Spring. It was Pike’s ride on MASKED CRUSADER in the Group 1 William Reid Stakes that silenced his critics. Hugging the rail throughout the race, Pike took a needle eye gap to get the Hawkes trained sprinter home. The horse was good, but the ride was better!
🏆 Jamie Kah
Race of the year
Doomben Cup The 2021 Doomben Cup will be remembered for the dominance of the win by ZAAKI. The English import had shown plenty of potential since coming to Australia and had won the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes on the Gold Coast in the lead up to the Doomben Cup. Could he run out a strong 2000m? In a run that was reminiscent of the legendary MIGHT AND POWER, James McDonald took ZAAKI to the front and he kept going. The final margin was 9+ lengths and it could have been more. Trainer Annabel Neasham had her first Group 1. There are more on the way.
Queen Elizabeth Stakes It was billed as a rematch of VERRY ELLEEGANT v ADDEYBB and it didn’t disappoint. ADDEYBB had proven too strong for VERRY ELLEEGANT in 2020 under hard riding from “Aussie Tom” Marquand. Could the visitor repeat the dose? The answer was yes. Marquand got going early and while VERRY ELLEEGANT didn’t shirk the task, she couldn’t reel him in. It was a stirring battle up the straight and made the hair on the back of the neck stand up.
WS Cox Plate Billed as “Australasia’s Premiere Weight for Age race” the 2020 WS Cox Plate didn’t disappoint. RUSSIAN CAMELOT had been hyped as the next big thing in racing, ARMORY had come from Ireland and star WA mare ARCADIA QUEEN had been moved east for close to a year to get prepared. As the horses reached the top of the Moonee Valley straight, there were five to six winning chances. Enter big race jockey Glen Boss and import SIR DRAGONET. Bossy took the split and beat the more fancied runners. Well backed late, some clever punters cleaned up.
🏆 Queen Elizabeth Stakes
Juvenile of the year
Anamoe Despite some success the Godolphin prepared 2yo ANAMOE could have had a much better first preparation. The beautifully bred colt was able to place in both the Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper despite horror barrier draws (13 &15), finding the line strongly on both occasions. He dominated his rivals to win the Group 1 Sires over 1400m and also won the Group 2 Todman Stakes along the way. With a bit more luck, we could be talking about ANAMOE in much more glowing terms. His maiden campaign was exceptional and it will be interesting to see what the future holds for him.
Artorius Coming with a well-timed run for Luke Currie from just off the speed in the Blue Diamond Stakes ARTORIUS added his name to a long list of champion 2yos. He followed up that run with a midfield finish in the Golden Slipper and if Anthony and Sam Freedman can iron out some of his quirks, a big future is assured.
Stay Inside It was an interesting campaign for STAY INSIDE. He got tongues wagging after an impressive debut win and put in a luckless “shocker” in the Todman Stakes as a lead into the Golden Slipper. Superstar jockey James McDonald was replaced after the Todman and Tommy Berry made the most of his opportunity in the Golden Slipper. STAY INSIDE enjoyed a box-seat run just behind the leaders and never looked in doubt. The world’s richest 2yo race was his.
🏆 Anamoe
Horse of the year
Verry Elleegant With five Group 1 wins for the season, VERRY ELLEEGANT is the dominant galloper in Australia. She won over 1400m (G1 Winx Stakes) up to 2400m (G1 Caulfield Cup) and should have finished closer in the Melbourne Cup. The Waller stable have ironed out her quirks and the mare tries her heart out. Take her to the Arc de Triomphe.
Explosive Jack The Maher and Eustace yard have been patient with EXPLOSIVE JACK, an approach that has paid dividends. A win in the Listed Tasmanian Derby was followed up with Group 1 glory in the Australian Derby and the South Australian Derby. He finished off his preparation with a third placing in the Queensland Derby had some excuses on that occasion. It was a tough effort from a stayer with plenty of potential. In a great stable, he is one to watch into the future.
Nature Strip To NATURE STRIP or not NATURE STRIP, that is the question! At his best, he is arguably the best sprinter in the world. But he can be somewhat unpredictable. Despite his quirks, the now 6yo was able to win two Group 1s for the season in two different states. His performance under Jamie Kah in the Lightning Stakes was awesome. His win in the TJ Smith was brilliant, On his day, there is no one better.