Run The Numbers – The stats that matter on the 57 Australian Group 1 winners of 2024/25
As Australia’s busiest Group 1 racing season came to a close, Tashi became the 57th individual horse to win an elite race in 2024/25, a list which also features 30 trainers and 33 different jockeys. This week’s Run The Numbers breaks down all the key figures.
The 2024/25 racing season will be remembered for the dominance of Chris Waller, who set a record for the most Group 1 wins by any trainer in a season with 19, while James McDonald went within one of equalling Malcolm Johnston’s national record as a jockey of 16.
Seven of Waller’s victories came via one horse, Via Sistina, who was represented in four of McDonald’s wins as well, while Waller had nine other individual Group 1 winners, including multiple successes with Lady Shenandoah and Joliestar.
Ciaron Maher was the second most successful Group 1 trainer with 10, the same as the stable had last season, while the Hayes brothers and Matt Laurie had four apiece. Bjorn Baker, Annabel and Rob Archibald, James Cummings, John O’Shea and Tom Charlton and Team Hawkes each had three.
While Waller racked up a record, the 30 individual trainers with Group 1 wins are three more than the total from last season.
Leading Group 1-winning trainers
In terms of jockeys, McDonald with 15 (he has also had six overseas Group 1 wins since August last year), led Damian Lane on eight Australian winners (he also had two overseas), followed by Ethan Brown on six and Craig Williams and Mark Zahra on five apiece.
In terms of individual jockeys successful across the 76 Group 1 races, there were 33, two more than last year, recognising that there were two additional Group 1s.
Leading Group 1-winning jockeys
The total of 57 individual horses to have won Group 1 races this season is three more than in 2023/24, but four fewer than the 61 that saluted at the top level in 2022/23.
In terms of sires, Fastnet Rock, thanks largely to Via Sistina, had the most Group 1 wins, with eight, while Snitzel had five and Harry Angel, Zoustar, Super Seth, Bullbars, Pride Of Dubai and Alabama Express had three each.
When it came to individual Group 1 winners, there was a three-way tie between Snitzel, Harry Angel, Super Seth and Pride Of Dubai.
All in all, there were 40 individual sires with Group 1 winners. That is two fewer than last season and 10 fewer than in 2022/23.
Leading Group 1-winning stallions
Stepping back a generation, there are 44 different damsires represented, with Street Cry leading the way with four individual Group 1 winners out of his daughters, including Saturday’s winner Tashi. All in all, they have won seven Group 1 races, with Treasurethe Moment responsible for three of those.
Galileo was the leading broodmare sire in terms of Group 1 wins, with eight, again seven from Via Sistina, while Fastnet Rock had four from three different horses.
He is one of six stallions to have been represented among Group 1 winners as both a sire and a broodmare sire, the others being Galileo, Tavistock, I Am Invincible, Snitzel and Savabeel.
There were no siblings – full, half or otherwise – among the 57 Group 1 winners for the season.
In terms of the breeders, Arrowfield led the way for the season with three individual Group 1 winners, Lady Shenandoah, Switzerland and Private Life, while among those to have two were Aquis, Corumbene, Cambridge Stud, Emirates Park, Godolphin and Pencarrow.
Arrowfield was also the leading vendor of those 35 horses sold through Australasian public yearling, weanling or two-year-old sales, with three graduates claiming Group 1 wins, while Segenhoe and Rosemont had two apiece.
Of individual sales, five of those 35 Group1 winners went through the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, while there were three from the 2023 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale and three from the NZB Karaka Book 1 in 2023.
The average yearling/weanling/two-year-old price of those 35 horses was $354,000, with Charm Stone the most expensive at $1.55 million, while Devil Night, Switzerland and Schwarz were also in that seven-figure bracket. The least expensive as a younger horse was Kimochi at $21,000 as a weanling, although she was purchased by her owners as a race filly for $2.2 million before her Group 1 win.
Mr Brightside was a $22,000 yearling who sold for $7750 online, but that sale was as an early three-year-old.
As for the most successful buyers, Tom Magnier, Go Racing, Matt Laurie, Suman Hedge, Bahen Bloodstock and Andrew Williams all signed in some part for two individual Group 1 winners apiece.
In the most successful owners category, it was a clear victory for Yulong, who had five individual Group 1 winners, Via Sistina, Treasurethe Moment, Kimochi, Deny Knowledge and Davil Night. Between them they won 13 Group 1 races, which is believed to be a seasonal record for the one owner,
Four Group 1 winners carried Ozzie Kheir’s colours, Gringotts, Jimmysstar, Light Infantry Man and Buckaroo.
Finally, of the 57 individual Group 1 winners, 37 were bred in Australia, 11 in New Zealand, four each in Ireland and France and one in Great Britain. That is one fewer Australian-bred Group 1 winner than last season.
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