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Turfling
Australasia
Friday 25 September 2026
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The lead
Apollo Stakes becomes Australia’s 77th Group 1 as five races are downgraded
The Asian Racing Federation has approved the Asian Pattern Committee’s decisions on 35 races run between January and July, lifting the Apollo Stakes from Group 2 to Group 1 and making it Australia’s 77th race at the top level. The 1400 metre weight for age race is run in mid-February, and the promotion follows an earlier Racing NSW application that was rejected.
Ten black type races were upgraded and five downgraded. The Adelaide Cup, the ATC Chairman’s Handicap, the WATC Derby and the Brisbane Cup each drop from Group 2 to Group 3, and the Launceston Cup falls from Group 3 to Listed. The Sydney Cup and the Queensland Derby were considered for downgrade and keep Group 1. The Quokka in Western Australia gains black type for the first time, at Group 2 (The Straight).
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Things to know today
| 1 |
Guest House goes for a double no horse has completed, the Golden Slipper winner stepping up to 1400 metres in Saturday’s $1 million Group 1 Golden Rose at Rosehill after taking the Group 3 San Domenico Stakes in course record time. Bjorn Baker will leave Warwoven’s early positioning to Rachel King from barrier one, the Run to the Rose winner having held off St Gotthard by a neck on 12 September (Breednet, The Straight)
Key runners only. We do not reproduce Racing Australia field content.
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| 2 |
The Group 1 Howden Insurance Mile returns to Hastings on Saturday after a two year absence that followed a slip in the first race of the meeting two years ago, with remedial work done and the track back racing earlier this year. Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray run Tuxedo, fifth first up in the Group 1 Proisir Plate at Ellerslie three weeks ago and given an exhibition gallop there last Saturday with Opie Bosson aboard. “He is going fantastic,” Ritchie said (Breednet, The Straight) |
| 3 |
Peter Moody sends Sheza Alibi to the Group 1 Might And Power Stakes at Caulfield on 10 October and then the $10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill on 31 October, a route that has not produced a Golden Eagle winner in the race’s first seven editions. The Makybe Diva Stakes winner was never going to use the Cox Plate as a lead in because of its seven day turnaround. “I think that three week break is perfect,” Moody told Giddy Up (The Straight) |
| 4 |
Winx has a filly by Too Darn Hot, her third living foal, born on Tuesday night and announced by her owners on Wednesday. Her first, the Pierro filly Quinceanera, made $10 million at Inglis Easter and was retired unraced, and her second is an unnamed two-year-old colt by Snitzel (Breednet) |
| 5 |
One Eye On Dubai led throughout to win by eight and a half lengths over 2000 metres at the Vaal on Tuesday, the New Zealand bred Almanzor colt breaking his maiden at his third start for Mike and Mathew de Kock. Bred by Monovale Stud, he was bought by Craig Ramsay for NZ$240,000 at Karaka last year, and a half brother by Proisir is catalogued for the Ready to Run Sale (Breednet) |
| 6 |
Racing and Wagering Western Australia has made its chief wagering officer Mike Saunders interim chief executive until 31 July next year, starting next week. Ian Edwards, who has led the organisation since December 2020, stays until 13 November for a handover and then becomes chief financial officer of the energy retailer Synergy. No process for a permanent appointment was announced (The Straight) |
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The Racing Reform Group NSW wants Brad Hazzard’s review of the Thoroughbred Racing Act 1996, given to the government in July, published before Racing NSW recruits a permanent chief executive, and says the search should not begin until the responsibilities of the role are clear. Peter V’landys leaves on 30 November when his contract expires, and the chief operating officer Graeme Hinton has been acting in the job (The Straight) |
| 8 |
Tabcorp has been fined $350,000 by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission for failing to require every customer to use multi-factor authentication, a gap that allowed unauthorised withdrawals. The regulator found four breaches of the wagering and betting technical standards between 30 January and 23 June 2025, and did not say how many accounts were reached or how much was taken (The Straight) |
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International
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America
Keeneland September passes last year’s whole sale with three days to run
The Keeneland September Yearling Sale turned over US$18,485,000 in Wednesday’s ninth session to reach US$511,680,500, passing the US$510,539,900 taken across all twelve sessions last year. Since 14 September, 2,027 yearlings have sold at an average of US$252,432 and a median of US$150,000, and seventy have made US$1 million or more against fifty-six a year ago. “We’ve still got three days to go,” the Keeneland sales vice president Tony Lacy said (Breednet, The Straight)
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Europe
Thirty entered for the one million euro Goffs Million at the Curragh
The Royal Ascot winner King Of Cloughan is one of thirty entries for Saturday’s one million euro Goffs Million over seven furlongs at the Curragh, billed as Europe’s richest two-year-old race. Joseph O’Brien, who has won it with Apples And Bananas, has four entered, and eight of the entries have already won a 50,000 euro Goffs Bonus this season. “The Goffs Million is a race we always like to target,” O’Brien said (Breednet)
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The week ahead
| 28 and 29 September |
The Goffs Orby Book 1 Sale at Kildare Paddocks |
| 3 October |
The Group 1 Epsom Handicap and the Group 2 Metropolitan at Randwick |
| 17 October |
The Everest at Royal Randwick |
| 31 October |
The Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington |
| 18 and 19 November |
The New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale at Karaka |
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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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