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Turfling
Australasia
Saturday 5 September 2026
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The lead
My Gladiola wins the Moir, McArdle’s first Group 1 in 21 years
My Gladiola won the Group 1 Moir Stakes at Sandown Hillside, the first Group 1 of the Victorian spring and the first Moir run away from Moonee Valley while The Valley is redeveloped. Jamie Mott held her just off the pace over the 1000 metres and came back to the inside on the turn, beating Cavalry Girl by a short neck, with Natural Fling third a further three-quarters of a length away (The Straight, Just Horse Racing).
It was John McArdle’s first Group 1 in 21 years, and the first the Mornington trainer and his stable rider have won together. It was Mott’s fifth. Mott said he was “actually really emotional” and that “just to do it for John is just unbelievable”. McArdle said the mare “has run against the best her entire career” and “was deserving of this”. She is a four-year-old by I Am Invincible out of the Not A Single Doubt mare Villa Verde (The Straight, Breednet). We name key runners only and do not reproduce Racing Australia or Racing NSW field content
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Things to know today
| 1 |
Well Written stayed unbeaten in the $400,000 Group 1 Proisir Plate over 1400 metres at Ellerslie, a seventh win from seven starts for Stephen Marsh and Matt Cartwright in 1:23.16 on a soft five. She beat Alabama Lass by 1.8 lengths, with Marsh also saddling Media World third and Tardelli fourth, and the win carried a $500,000 bonus as the first NZB Kiwi starter from last season to take a domestic Group 1. Marsh is pointing her at the Epsom Handicap on 3 October and the Golden Eagle on 31 October. In the Group 3 Sunline Vase over 1200 metres, Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott’s Almanzor filly Pounce won for Craig Grylls in 1:12.40 from Silhouette and Dream Roca, with She’s No Saint fourth (Breednet, The Straight) |
| 2 |
Matusalem gave Chris Waller a tenth Wyong Cup on Friday, the six-year-old winning the $250,000 Listed race for James McDonald from Anythink Goes with the stablemate Elliptical third. McDonald had him third along the fence tracking Eliyass and said he should have won by further: “he was going to win by a couple of lengths, or let’s just say a length, and he just pricked the ears and decided his job was done” (The Straight) |
| 3 |
New Zealand’s Establishment Board has held its first meeting. Formed by TAB NZ, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and Harness Racing New Zealand, it is charged with assessing future governance and operating structures, and a merger of the two administrative bodies is among the options in front of it. Independent chair Dean McKenzie said the focus is “on the analysis, engagement and planning needed to ensure decisions are well-informed and evidence-based”. It follows the Project Stamina report, which recommended closing up to seven thoroughbred racecourses, and a $118 million prize money agreement with TAB NZ for 2026/27. Any recommendation needs sign-off from all three bodies (The Straight) |
| 4 |
Racing WA has raised the minimum weight in the $1.5 million Railway Stakes from 53kg to 54kg, and made the same change to the Group 2 Perth Cup, to protect the Railway’s Group 1 status. The Asian Pattern Committee applies a 115 point international benchmark with a three point tolerance. Head of thoroughbred operations Vinny Meens said compressing the scale “may help attract higher-rated horses to the race” and that one well-rated visitor “could significantly improve the race’s chances of meeting the Group 1 benchmark”. The Metropolitan was cut to Group 2 after Racing NSW declined condition changes (The Straight) |
| 5 |
Toby Edmonds took the Magic Millions Wayne Wilson Medal at the Queensland Trainers Association awards on Thursday night with 138 votes to Robert Heathcote’s 133, the Sunshine Coast’s James Healy third. Spicy Martini’s Stradbroke Handicap was the difference. Tony Gollan received an outstanding achievement award for a 13th straight Queensland premiership and more than 200 winners, and Todd Pollard was Rising Star, an award now carrying Gollan’s name (The Straight) |
| 6 |
New Zealand Bloodstock has catalogued 460 lots for the Ready to Run Sale, with breeze-ups at Te Rapa on 12 and 13 October and selling at Karaka on 18 and 19 November. The book holds 66 siblings to Group performers and 72 foals out of stakes winning mares. Lot 374 is a Proisir colt from Kilgravin Lodge, a half-brother to the 14 time Group 1 winner Melody Belle, and Lot 45 a Savabeel full-brother to the Tarzino Trophy winner Skew Wiff (Breednet) |
| 7 |
Knight’s Choice has moved to Ballarat. Around 27 horses left Macedon Lodge on Thursday with John Symons and Sheila Laxon, whose contracts were terminated when the Dixon family appointed Sara Ryan. Michael Dixon said about half the affected owners had agreed to transfer to Ryan, and that “if they want to move the horses, they can. The horses won’t be in any jeopardy of (missing) any training”. Laxon said some would go to the paddock: “people have been so supportive” (The Straight) |
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Bruce McAvaney goes into the South Australian Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame tonight, inducted in the associate category at the SA Racing Awards at Morphettville, with Premier Peter Malinauskas taking part in the induction. He called his first meeting at Mindarie-Halidon in 1977 and moved to Melbourne in 1983, and has covered every Summer Olympics from 1984 to 2024 alongside the racing work (The Straight) |
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International
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America
Kentucky Downs runs a three million dollar Derby
The Nashville Derby Invitational is run today, a Grade 2 over a mile and five sixteenths on turf worth $3 million, made up of a $1.75 million purse and a $1.25 million enhancement for Kentucky-breds. It is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series race and the second richest race for three-year-olds in America behind the Kentucky Derby. Post time is 4pm Eastern, on a card that also holds the $2 million Kentucky Turf Cup and the $1.75 million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (Paulick Report, NBC Sports).
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Europe
Heavy ground takes one out of the Sprint Cup
Haydock eased to heavy after 23mm of rain since Thursday’s racing, and Jim Goldie took American Affair out of Saturday’s Group 1 Betfair Sprint Cup on Friday morning because of it, leaving eight for the £400,000 race. Clerk of the course Daniel Cooper said at 7.30am that the ground “is heavy for Flat racing but I haven’t found any area that is false and it’s perfectly raceable” (Racing Post).
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The week ahead
| 6 September |
The Hong Kong season opens at Sha Tin, the first of 88 meetings |
| 6 September |
The New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards, 5pm at the New Zealand International Convention Centre in Auckland |
| 12 September |
The Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes over 1600 metres at Flemington |
| 19 September |
The Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes over 1400 metres and the Group 1 Underwood Stakes over 1800 metres, both at Caulfield |
| 26 September |
The Group 1 Golden Rose over 1400 metres at Rosehill |
| 27 September |
The Group 1 Manikato Stakes over 1200 metres, at Caulfield this year |
| 10 October |
The Group 1 Caulfield Guineas over 1600 metres |
| 24 October |
The Group 1 Cox Plate over 2040 metres, at Flemington for one year while Moonee Valley is rebuilt |
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This week
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Reported from official race-day materials, racecourse and regulator publications, and sales results, verified against trade press. Where a fact originates elsewhere, we say so. Drafted with AI assistance. Picks are percentages, never odds. Not affiliated with any track, tote board, regulator or wagering product.
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