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30. Autumn Boy soars in value with Caulfield Guineas romp <\/p>\n
Following two outstanding victories to launch his career in the winter, Autumn Boy returned in the spring with high expectations. And the son of The Autumn Sun lived up to those lofty heights in the Caulfield Guineas, emulating the deeds of his sire to roar away with the stallion-making Group 1. The victory handed trainer Chris Waller a fourth Caulfield Guineas, including back-to-back wins after also combining with Damian Lane to win a year earlier with Private Life.<\/p>\n
READ: \u2018Pretty special’: Waller lands fourth Guineas in decade with Autumn Boy<\/a><\/p>\n Autumn Boy ridden by Damian Lane wins the Sportsbet Caulfield Guineas Picture: Scott Barbour \/ Racing Photos<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 29. Snitzel and Fastneck Rock pass, leave lasting legacy <\/p>\n Australian racing said goodbye to two of the sport’s most influential, breeding-shaping sires in 2025 with the sad loss of Snitzel and Fastneck Rock.<\/p>\n Snitzel, a four-time Australian champion sire of the year, passed away in June aged 22 following a remarkable career in the breeding barn, responsible for more than 1300 winners with worldwide earnings of $274 million.<\/p>\n Just a few months later, Fastneck Rock passed away at the age of 24, the two-time champion sire of the year boasting more than $258 million in earnings also leaving behind an everlasting legacy.<\/p>\n READ: “We’re all devastated”: Super stallion Snitzel dies<\/a><\/p>\n READ: Super sire Fastnet Rock dies aged 24<\/a><\/p>\n Snitzel passed away in 2025 having left an indelible mark on the breeding industry.<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 28. Racing NSW announce plans to appoint an administrator to ATC <\/p>\n The divide between Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club was laid bare in December with the regulator announcing its intentions to appoint an administrator to NSW’s major race club. The decision followed a “show-cause” notice being issued to the club in September over “financial and governance issues”. The ATC was successful in staving off the immediate appointment of an administrator in the Supreme Court with the matter set to return in February. It has the capacity to be one of the storylines of 2026.<\/p>\n READ: \u2018Serious financial issues’: ATC placed into administration<\/a><\/p>\n Racing NSW Chair Dr. Saranne Cooke and ATC Chair Tim Hale.<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 27. Weir back in headlines, loses Supreme Court bid against ban <\/p>\n Former Melbourne Cup winning trainer Darren Weir’s hopes of returning to the training fold took a further hit in 2025, losing his Supreme Court bid to have a further two-year disqualification quashed.<\/p>\n After serving an initial four-year DQ for the possession of a jigger, Weir was hit with a further two-years for the use of the banned device after police released covert vision. <\/p>\n Weir will be back in the headlines in September 2026 when the disgraced former trainer is once again free to reapply for his licence.<\/p>\n READ: Weir loses appeal against terms of disqualification<\/a><\/p>\n Darren Weir leaves Court after his bid to have a two-year disqualification overturned was dismissed.<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 26. Damian Lane continues Japanese dominance, wins Group 1 Tenno Sho <\/p>\n Damian Lane’s rock star-type status surged to even greater heights during 2025 when the gun hoop landed a seventh Japanese Group 1 in the prestigious Tenno Sho aboard Redentor.<\/p>\n Lane has enjoyed immense success in his sojourns to Japan with Redentor’s win in the two-mile showpiece seeing the now Hall of Fame hoop surpass 150 winners in the racing mecca.<\/p>\n Damian Lane takes out the 2025 Tenno Sho on Redentor.<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 25. Shock passing of Robbie Laing <\/p>\n There was an outpouring of emotion throughout the Australian racing industry in June when news filtered through that Robbie Laing had passed away in his sleep, aged just 66.<\/p>\n Laing, who won more than 1,100 winners during his training career, including five at Group 1 level, died just hours after El Soleado had finished runner-up at Flemington, his final ever runner.<\/p>\n But it was arguably Laing’s grand achievements with jumps superstar Sir Pentire that he will be best remembered, winning the Grand Annual (5500m) in 2009 with the wonder horse first up for more than two years.<\/p>\n READ: \u2018He will be sadly missed’: Robbie Laing passes away in sleep<\/a><\/p>\n Trainer Robbie Laing sadly passed away in 2025.<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 24. Jamie Kah, Ben Melham tie the knot <\/p>\n Racing found its way to the front pages in January when star jockeys Jamie Kah (now Melham) and Ben Melham tied the knot at a picturesque ceremony at Rosemont Homestead near Geelong in Victoria.<\/p>\n 2024 Melbourne Cup winning jockey (and adept singer) Robbie Dolan would perform the song for their first dance, with of course Jamie going on to Melbourne Cup glory 11 months later.<\/p>\n Two notable guests at the wedding were Jamie’s retired racehorse Brax and the couple’s dog Bubbles, both featuring during the ceremony.<\/p>\n READ: First pics from Jamie Kah, Ben Melham’s picturesque wedding<\/a><\/p>\n Jamie and Ben Melham. Picture: Instagram \/ jamieleemelham07<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 23. Antino wins Doomben Cup in a romp <\/p>\n Champion Queensland trainer Tony Gollan claimed arguably his greatest training moment when Antino roared away for a track record breaking Doomben Cup romp in May.<\/p>\n “This is a new best in my career,” an emotional Gollan said post the Group 1 victory.<\/p>\n “He’s the best horse I have trained \u2013 after winning the Toorak Handicap last year we have all just got better as a team.<\/p>\n “Antino has gone to another level, what we have seen today is pretty special.”<\/p>\n Antino, ridden by Blake Shinn, scored by four-lengths on the line with the triumph setting up a second Queensland Horse of the Year crown later in the year.<\/p>\n READ: \u2018That was serious, wasn’t it?\u2018: Antino makes Doomben Cup a one-act affair<\/a><\/p>\n Antino produces a devastating Group 1 Doomben Cup win for trainer Tony Gollan and Blake Shinn Pictures: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography.<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 22. Private Harry caps off meteoric rise with Group 1 Galaxy victory <\/p>\n It was one of the fairytale stories of 2025. <\/p>\n The emergence of Private Harry from a Newcastle maiden win the November prior all the way through to making it five from five with a Group 1 Galaxy success in the Autumn.<\/p>\n The win was a maiden Group 1 for trainer Nathan Doyle and jockey Ash Morgan, the trio proving to be a formidable combination.<\/p>\n Not long after a controlling share in the horse was sold to Yulong before a lacklustre spring campaign saw Morgan dumped and the horse transferred to Chris Waller.<\/p>\n READ: Harry makes Everest case as star continues to rise in Galaxy<\/a><\/p>\n Private Harry wins the Group 1 Galaxy Picture: Jeremy Ng \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 21. \u2018Real gentleman’: Tributes flow for Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Michael Moroney <\/p>\n After battling ill-health for some time, much revered Melbourne Cup winning trainer Michael Moroney sadly passed away in his sleep back in February, aged 66, leaving a racing industry in mourning.<\/p>\n A 55-time Group 1 winning conditioner, Moroney’s crowning glory came in the year 2000 when Brew raced away with the Melbourne Cup.<\/p>\n A New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Moroney, who oversaw the hugely successful trans-tasman Ballymore Stables, moved to Australia in 1999, enjoying immediate and ultimately sustained success. <\/p>\n “He was loved by all, a gentle giant, a great temperament, a solid individual,” prominent owner and close friend Rupert Legh said at the time of his passing.<\/p>\n READ: \u2018Real gentleman’: Tributes for Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Michael Moroney<\/a><\/p>\n The late Michael Moroney at his Flemington stables. Picture: Michael Klein<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 20. Marhoona equals 50-year record with Golden Slipper success <\/p>\n Marhoona equalled a 50-year record when delivering Michael Freedman a second Golden Slipper at Rosehill Gardens in March.<\/p>\n The Emirates Park-owned filly was having her first her third start in the two-year-old showpiece, joining 1975 winner Toy Show as the least experienced winner of the race.<\/p>\n For Freedman, it was a second Slipper in four years, having combined with brother Richard to win the race in 2021 with Stay Inside.<\/p>\n “We are a small stable and taking on these big numbers in such a competitive environment as Sydney racing, you just have to do the best you can,\u2018’ Freedman said after the win.<\/p>\n “You know, we’ve been through the ups and downs with the family over a lot of years with these sort of good results, bad results, but this is a huge thrill for my team.”<\/p>\n Marhoona’s Slipper success was a second for Damian Lane, scoring in 2019 aboard Kiamachi.<\/p>\n READ: Filly creates Slipper history to erase Freedman’s anguish<\/a><\/p>\n Marhoona wins the Golden Slipper.<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 19. Emotions fly as Peter Moody ushered into Hall of Fame <\/p>\n There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after Peter Moody delivered a heartfelt speech following his induction into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in August.<\/p>\n Moody, who has enjoyed a stellar training career over three decades, preparing more than 3,000 winners and in excess of 60 Group 1 triumphs, was inducted at the perfect setting in his home state of Queensland.<\/p>\n But it was the emotional tribute the trainer of Black Caviar delivered recognising the support of his wife Sarah and three daughters that pulled at the heart strings of those in the room.<\/p>\n Just days prior to the event, Moody’s daughter Cara, a Victorian police officer, had lost two of her colleagues during a tragic standoff in rural Victoria.<\/p>\n “Cara is a Victorian policewoman, it was the happiest day in my life when she sent me a text and said \u2018Dad, I’m OK, I’ve lost two colleagues’,” Moody said.<\/p>\n “To receive that as a father, knowing what your daughter has got to go out and do every day, cheers love.<\/p>\n “I’d trade in every Black Caviar they could ever breed to make sure she walks home safe every night as a policewoman.”<\/p>\n Also inducted into the Hall of Fame was champion hoop Zac Purton and legendary broadcaster John Tapp.<\/p>\n READ: Family first: Emotions fly as Moody is ushered into Hall of Fame<\/a><\/p>\n Peter Moody with fife Sarah and daughters Breann, Celine and Cara. Picture: Annette Dew<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 18. Curtain closes on legendary trainer Lee Freedman’s career <\/p>\n 2025 saw the curtain close on the training career of 128-time Group 1 winning mentor Lee Freedman.<\/p>\n The Hall of Famer, who boasts five Melbourne Cups, chose not to renew his training licence for the 2025\/26 racing season, instead serving in varied capacities for younger brother Michael’s Gold Coast operation.<\/p>\n “It’s taking a step back after 40-plus years of running set-ups, big set-ups and having the strain of that,” Freedman said. <\/p>\n “I think that takes its toll in terms of what you want to get out of it. I’ve got no massive ego about being a horse trainer, I’ve done all of that.”<\/p>\n READ: Curtain closing on legendary trainer Lee Freedman’s career<\/a><\/p>\n Trainer Lee Freedman. Picture: Ian Currie<\/p>\n \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n 17. Knight’s Choice Melbourne Cup prize money saga takes twists and turns <\/p>\n Knight’s Choice’s 2024 Melbourne Cup triumph was one of fairytales.<\/p>\n But in early 2025, a disturbing subplot emerged when it was revealed that trainers Sheila Laxon and John Symons’ $464,000 share of the prize money had been paid to an old bank account controlled by a former associate.<\/p>\n It led to all sorts of finger pointing, with Racing Victoria initially insisting it had no culpability.<\/p>\n But in October, almost a year on from the famous victory, legal action was settled with all parties signing nondisclosure agreements.<\/p>\n “We confirm that the claim against Racing Victoria by Sheila Laxon and John Symons regarding the payment of trainer prize money from the 2024 Melbourne Cup has been settled on confidential terms,” Racing Victoria said.<\/p>\n “The dispute was the subject of media coverage and interest. This resolution was reached following mediation.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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