I’m off on my summer break after this week’s column, so it is time for me to look at what the racing scene is going to look like in 2026.
Onwards and upwards I say and I see plenty of blue sky although we should always be mindful that out big opposition to winning over the younger folks to follow racing is not other racing jurisdictions, it is not the trots and the dogs, it is SPORT and the ever-increasing interest in Sports betting.
We need smarter thinking around attempting to convert young sports punters to the gallops.
Our administrators always have to remember that every dollar waged on Sports betting is a dollar not invested on horse racing.
So now for some predictions.
1. Many had been saying “bye, bye, bye baby goodbye” to J-Mac, predicting he’d soon become Hong Kong’s No.1 rider rather than Australia’s. But I am saying in 2026 we will be seeing more of the same and J-Mac will dominate Sydney and Australia even more.
James McDonald isn’t heading to Hong Kong full-time as his family is happier in Australia, and that’s where he’ll stay.
He’ll chase his 10th Sydney jockeys’ premiership and continue riding in Hong Kong’s big races when opportunities arise, but he won’t be basing himself there.
James will remain an Australian jockey who travels for the majors not the other way around.
2. Time does heal all wounds and New South Wales and Victorian racing administrations will edge closer together. It won’t be buddy-buddy like the old days, but strong progress will be made.
3. Chris Waller will continue his golden run and win his 16th Sydney Trainers’ Premiership. Could he possibly ever catch Tommy Smith and his remarkable 33 titles? He’s young enough (52) and I don’t think Waller will ever go to Hong Kong despite the powerbrokers in Honkers continually trying to entice him there. Unlike many in the racing business, money is not Waller’s God and he is doing pretty nicely in Sydney, Australia, and he and his wife Stephanie love the lifestyle.
4. The Hayes boys, Ben, Will and JD, to edge ever closer to Ciaron Maher in the Melbourne Premiership and by 2028 … watch Out.
5. New stars to appear as Australia’s glamour horses from this year’s three-year-old crop with Sheza Alibi, Autumn Boy, Tentyris, Beiwacht and Tempted leading the way.
6. The Autumn Sun to become what he was bought for, the stallion superstar of Arrowfield Stud, and running off the deeds of his new stars Autumn Glow and Autumn Boy. Don’t forget though the pelvic injury that cost the horse standing the 2024 breeding season which means he has no foals on the ground this Spring and will not be represented in the 2027 Sales sessions.
7. How far will Autumn Glow go? It’s eight in a row now and she will be well managed, but I’d hate to offer a prediction. OK, OK I haven’t won readers by sitting on the fence so I say she will certainly get to double figures, let’s say 12.
8. J-Mac won’t want to have too many holidays as Zac Lloyd will have a massive year and be right on his heels in the Sydney premiership. Tommy Berry, Jason Collett, Kerrin McEvoy, Tim Clark and the like won’t make it easy for him but the young man has a gift. Lloyd is only 22 at the moment, but eventually the bright lights and the big dollars of Hong Kong will grab him, don’t forget his father rode there for a long period.
9. Ethan Brown will challenge Mark Zahra as the top “GO TO” jockey for Group One races in Melbourne. Brown has made giant strides in 2025 and the high opinion Ciaron Maher has of him will ensure continued big race success.
10. The big mover in the Sydney jockey ranks will be Tom Sherry. I’ve been singing this bloke’s praises for some time and he nailed another treble at the Canterbury meeting on Friday night. Sherry is sitting comfortably in the top 10 in Sydney (eighth) as you read this and he can go higher.
11. Big changes to occur in senior racing administration positions in 2026 in several states. I’ll say no more.
12. The same as in 2025 – the bookies will get richer and the punters will battle on.
I thought I would finish with a couple that will give us all a laugh.
All major decisions for thoroughbred racing in 2026 will be made with no self-interest involved and punters will be consulted in all major racing decisions.
Have a Great and Safe Christmas and New Year!
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REMEMBER THIS YOUNG MAN’S NAME
Stay with me a bit while I tell this next tale about a young fella you might hear a lot of in years to come.
My 17-year-old nephew Digger has just finished high school and graduated from Sydney’s Waverley College after being there from Year 5 to Year 12. Like most in this football mad school, Digger has played Rugby every year.
I’ve gone and watched him a few times and for the first five years the best player in the team almost every week was also the smallest player in the team, a kid called Aidan Lee. Unfortunately, Aidan was just a bit too small and his parents called time on his Rugby career after Year 9.
Now Aidan Lee has his heart set on becoming a jockey. So what you might say, a kid is small and he was OK at football, is that going to make him a good jockey?
Well let me tell you Aidan Lee has a pedigree that few jockeys in the world could match.
His dad Jason was a jockey in Sydney, his grandad David was a jockey and his uncles Jimmy and Greg were jockeys and that is only on the male side of the page.
Aidan’s beautiful mum Tina is a daughter of a former jockey in Peter Leyshan and, through her mum Michelle, Tina is a granddaughter of the hoop most will tell you was the greatest of all time, the legendary George Moore.
So remember the name Aidan Lee, sometimes breeding does count.
Aidan is going to be indentured to John O’Shea, a man who will look after him and make sure he gets every chance.
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ROB & ANNABEL WIN THE ARCHIBALD PRIZE
Annabel and Rob Archibald live in Sydney, but that’s the only place the husband-and-wife training duo did not clean up at on Saturday.
Their day’s highlight was winning the G1 Winterbottom Stakes in Perth with Libertad, they won the opening race at Caulfield with Black Run and they won at Doomben with Space Tracker and Midnight In Tokyo.
Mind you they aren’t having a lean trot at home. They won at Canterbury on Friday night with Sacrify and with 55 wins they are a clear second to Chris Waller, 79, in the NSW Trainers’ Premiership.
To add to their weekend tally they won at Newcastle on Sunday with Tango Queen.
I know the Archibald’s have got a lot of horses, but they are winning a lot of races.
Their success across all states highlights the changing face of Aussie racing.
I know Bart Cummings and Tommy Smith won races in West Australia, but to win in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney on the same weekend is starting a new trend and is something the old masters didn’t do.
Winterbottom Stakes I Libertad
Libertad sensationally denies Overpass a piece of history in the Winterbottom Stakes 🤩 A remarkable result for @jamieleemott, claiming his fourth Group 1 👏
📺 Ch. 78/68, Foxtel 529, Kayo or via our app pic.twitter.com/VEJylg5lch
— Racing.com (@Racing) November 29, 2025
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BEADMAN HITS THE TARGET
Former champion jockey Darren Beadman, now an important member of the Chris Waller stable hasn’t lost his touch. On Friday night at Canterbury races, after missing the target with the charity challenge of archery I asked him on SKY what the stable’s best chance for the weekend was. There were plenty of quality horses to choose from, yet he nominated the unraced 2YO colt Fireball.
It seemed not many believed the champion, with Fireball easing to start at $8 while stablemate Jaipur Maison jumped the $3.90 second favourite. But Fireball didn’t let Beadman down, winning impressively and signalling himself as a major player all the major 2YO races.
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BRAVE IS GOOD BUT HE AIN’T NO CRUSHER
Joe Pride won the quote of the week when I interviewed him at Canterbury on Friday night.
Joe has had plenty of success this spring not least with his old marvel Coal Crusher, which is strapped by Joe’s son Brave, and won his second $1m Newcastle Hunter in three years last month.
I asked Joe who was the bigger asset to the stable, Coal Crusher or Brave?
“Well, I pay one and the other pays me,” answered Joe with the biggest of smiles on his face.
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DON’T WORRY ABOUT HIS HEART
I don’t keep statistics but gee whiz a lot of horses seem to run big races the start after they have turned in shockers when suffering from cardiac arrhythmia.
Yorkshire was just another one when he controlled the race all the way when successful in Saturday’s Festival Stakes at Rosehill.
Yorkshire is one serious racehorse and boasts a record of seven wins in 10 starts and he is not finished yet.
His immediate aim is the $2 million Group 2 The Ingham at Randwick in two weeks.
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LOOKS TOO HARD FOR ME – BLACK TYPE, BLACK HOLE OF CONFUSION
On Friday, Racing NSW published a bulletin regarding Black Type Guidelines & The Pattern in response to what it says is widespread misinformation from sectors pushing the barrow of those with self-interest.
I asked my breeding man ‘off the record’ what does it all mean as I don’t have a great interest in the matter, as my main concern is centred around our customers, the punters and how trainers are under appreciated.
“Rich, technically Racing NSW are not wrong in what they say” was the opening line of the text.
What? So, does that mean the release is right if it’s not wrong?
Racing NSW’s Group 2, Group 3 and Listed races upgraded last year were done so in accordance with the black type guidelines approved by Racing Australia last year.
“Yes, but.………….”
So, it’s a yes.
Does Racing NSW want the version of the guidelines that has been endorsed by Asia, to be adopted in Australia?
“Yes, but.………….”
So, it’s a yes.
I think I will leave it to others and just worry how we as an industry continue to attract and keep punters that allows the wheels to turn daily.
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SHE’S NO HUSTLER SHE’S VERY GOOD
The biggest and richest race on the Eastern seaboard on Saturday was the $750,000 Zipping Classic at Caulfield won in dogged fashion by Grahame Begg’s staying find She’s A Hustler, a daughter of Ace High, which won the 2017 Victoria Derby after a brilliant ride by Tye Angland.
She’s A Hustler relished racing over 2400m for the first time and beat a serious horse in Light Infantryman, which had finished fifth of 11 to Via Sistina in the Mackinnon Stakes at his previous run.
She’s A Hustler has not finished worse than second in any of her 11 race starts. She boasts seven wins and four seconds which is some record.
The win in the Zipping Classic was the second stakes success of the day for Begg who also took out the Twilight Glow Stakes with the Super Seth filly Ruska Roma.
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MACK IS ON THE GOOD LIST WITH BLACKLIST
Blacklist, the winner of Saturday’s Country Classic at Rosehill, only just scraped into the race under the conditions.
To be eligible horses have had to have had their previous three starts under a country trainer.
Blacklist had his first start for Mudgee trainer Mack Griffith at Port Macquarie on October 10 and then raced for the trainer at Eagle Farm on November 1 and Canterbury on November 14.
Prior to that Blacklist was a member of the Laming Racing team in Melbourne and raced for Richard Laming when successful at Sandown in September.
Smart work Mack getting the horse into the race and winning. If you can beat the system without breaking any rules, good on you.
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THANK GOODNESS THE STEWARDS KNOW THE RULES
The stewards at Rosehill on Saturday got the protest by Tommy Berry on Snack Bar against the winner Lyles spot on.
Snack Bar was never beating Lyles and therefore the objection was thrown out. The only surprise to me was that it took more than 30 seconds.
I did shake my head hearing a few say, ‘If the stewards think the interference has cost Snack Bar more than the 0.25 length winning margin it will be upheld’.
NO NO NO NO NO NO that is not right.
Did the interference materially affect the result?
This is the decisive question.
Stewards must be comfortably satisfied that without the interference the protesting horse would have finished in front of the horse it is protesting against.
In other words, they must decide:
Would the result have been different but for the interference?
Would the protesting horse have finished ahead?
Was the interference significant enough to alter the outcome?
If the stewards cannot be comfortably satisfied that the placings would change, the protest is dismissed.
Correct call, play on.
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MAJOR GRAY CLEANS UP
Big congrats this week to Brad Gray who tipped Major Beel to win Saturday’s ATC Cup On the Formline show on SKY on Thursday night when the former Derby winner was listed at $51 with the TAB.
He still started at $21 and I hope Brad cleaned up.
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UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
The big betting companies make hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars a year off the back of punters. Then they limit the winning punters, restrict others who aren’t losing fast enough, and here’s the kicker, us punters who get treated this way do the bookies dirty work and complain that taxes on bets are too high.
I’m not arguing that taxes couldn’t be reduced to help create a healthier market place, but maybe we punters should start demanding something else that the big bookies take a little less cream. Maybe instead of pocketing $300 million in profits, they settle for $100 or $200 million and give punters a fairer deal.
Let the bookies fight their own battles. We punters should be voting with our feet with our business.
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Here is the meaning of the word, independent. Some seem to throw it around like a football.
What is the full meaning of independent?
adjective. not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself. an independent thinker. not subject to another’s authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free. an independent business not influenced.
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
In recent months I have chatted with board members from many race clubs throughout the country.
A few things that racing must look at if we are going to get better at driving wagering, attracting crowds and staying relevant rather continuing to die on the vine.
A minimum 25% of any metropolitan race club board members must be under 30 years of age.
Each board member must understand how betting/wagering works. Preferable that they bet.
A minimum of 25% must have attended public schooling.
Each board member must know the price of a pie and a beer at their race club compared to a local club or pub.
Each board member must attend the races via public transport and spend the day in the general public at least once a year.
Each board member must attend a minimum amount of race days outside of carnival time.
No board member can derive their major income from a self-interest group in racing.
UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
The narks finally got their way with Chris Waller scratching his Newcastle runners early Saturday morning because they were set to race at Kembla on Saturday afternoon, even though Newcastle wasn’t on until Sunday. Everyone happy now? Well, not the owners, I can assure you. Kembla was called off after one race, so those horses never raced Saturday or Sunday.
Now they’re stuck with more bills and no run at all.
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LOVE THE HORSE
There are thousands of stories like Bellagio Wynn a 22-year-old former racehorse, healthy and loving life. Racing needs to highlight these stories, especially to those who don’t always see the genuine care racing people have for the horse.
Yes, we’re part of a gambling industry, but at our core we love and care deeply for the thoroughbred.
I’m a punter through & through
But like most I admire & love the beauty of the horse 🐎
This is BELLAGIO WYNN
22yo former @cwallerracing galloper loving life still
Retired 14 years ago
Winner of 9 races
Won listed Xmas Cup & Sky High
Placed in a stack of group races@racing_nsw pic.twitter.com/ouWPKTnW6h
— Richard Callander (@richieplz) December 1, 2025
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ARTGIRL – The winner from the Richard Litt stable was impressive and will be winning better races but also keep the third placed filly Artgirl nice and safe. Out of top-quality mare She’s Clean this girl will benefit greatly from the run and appreciate a bigger track.
A great night at Canterbury Park for Litt Racing last night as we celebrated a winning double! Many congratulations to all connections, jockeys @tomo_sherry and Jason Collett, and our equine athletes Caffe Florian and Balkans. pic.twitter.com/evRIBBIcl6
— Litt Racing (@littracing) November 28, 2025
HORATIUS – The son of Super Seth has raced twice and finished nearer the back than the front but don’t let that worry you about putting his name in your black book. On Thursday at Mornington he looked awkward and new yet when he finally balanced up he was strong late and through the line. Stick with him and his trainer Clinton McDonald.
DIFRONZO – He ran last but don’t give up on him. The son of Street Boss had trialled extremely well prior to his debut and was heavily supported but after being bustled early looked awkward and never finished off on Wednesday. He is a lot better than he showed at Wyong.
GOLD CAPITAL – It was a hard watch late if you backed him at Tamworth but the run suggested the 4yo son of Capitalist is ready to build on his record of only one win from 13 starts. I love big margins when doing the form and although beaten it was a long gap back to third so stick with him.