Straight Up – Godolphin’s new trainers, the prize money battle and a Hong Kong gun

In this edition:

• The chosen nine – Godolphin unveils its post-Cummings Australian training roster
• The money and The Gun – Why Hong Kong suits Brenton Avdulla just fine
• Everyone gets a prize – How the Melbourne Cup grew to be a $10 million race
• Peter McGauran resigns from ATC amid Rosehill fallout
• Racing Victoria sustains prize money, boosts features and maidens amid ‘realignment’
• New blood, old formula for Peters’ next generation

There is always an element of intrigue about stable switches but it’s doubtful if there has ever been as much interest generated in the transfer of horseflesh as what Godolphin has in store for its Australian team.

With James Cummings stepping down as Godolphin trainer at the end of the season to take up a Hong Kong position in 2026, his decision has prompted a change of business model for one of the world’s highest-profile stables.

The trainers selected to take over the Cummings team were announced on Friday. In total, nine stables in NSW and Victoria have been handpicked.

Winning the race to secure Godolphin’s team of stars include Anthony and Sam Freedman, who have an existing relationship with Godolphin, as well as Ben, JD and Will Hayes, Bjorn Baker, Chris Waller, Ciaron Maher, Gary Portelli, Joe Pride, Michael Freedman and Tony and Calvin McEvoy.

In a contest of a different kind, in the 1980s, the best definition of a racing prize money war came down to a race between two races to offer Australia’s first $1 million purse.

It would either be the Melbourne Cup or Sydney’s Golden Slipper. That’s all there was to it.

The Melbourne Cup had that distinction when the Victoria Racing Club ran the 1985 edition for $1 million.

While the VRC earned symbolic bragging rights, the then-Sydney Turf Club responded by offering $1 million for the 1986 Golden Slipper.

Prize money increases for both races largely kept pace with each other by way of some unwritten gentleman’s agreement.

With this week’s announcement that the 2025 Melbourne Cup will be run for $10 million, Australia’s most famous race will be worth double the purse on offer for the Golden Slipper.

The disruptor to Australia’s prize money landscape has been the introduction of the Everest, now sold as a $20 million flagship of Sydney racing.

There are many variables attached to the distribution of the stakes for the Everest but there has always been one component of the breakdown that has diluted the returns to horses finishing in the major placings.

Last year, horses from seventh to last earned $700,000 in a move unashamedly designed to help defray costs for slotholders.

On a smaller scale, the VRC will pay $100,000 for each horse finishing 12th to 24th.

The real benefits of this decision remain to be seen. Genuine incentive scheme or an unnecessary reward for mediocrity?

Whatever it is, Australia’s much-vaunted prize money levels are not enough to stop a talent drain to Hong Kong.

With Cummings to train there from 2026, he joins a growing list of expats who are making Hong Kong their racing destination.

Brenton Avdulla was contracted to the Hong Kong Jockey Club ranks two seasons ago and is making inroads as he sits fourth on the jockeys’ premiership.

In Australia, a jockey like Avdulla would have to put in countless more hours to take advantage of the prize money levels.

But in a revealing interview with Matt Stewart, Avdulla says his income has tripled while his work-life balance is better than at any stage of his career.

Six weeks after we thought the Rosehill issue might have died a natural death after Australian Turf Club members voted down the proposal to sell the racecourse, the fallout has started.

ATC chairman Peter McGauran, one of the architects of the proposal to sell the racecourse, resigned this week as a NSW government appointee to the board.

But before he departs, McGauran will likely vote on his successor as chairman. David McGrath, a pro-Rosehill sale member of the board, has been mentioned as a replacement in a move tipped to do nothing to promote unity among the directorship.

In other news this week, Sports Entertainment Group is set to acquire Victorian racing industry-owned racing radio station RSN for $3.25 million.racing in Victoria.

On the racing front, Western Australia will offer a selection of black-type races that often provide an insight into Perth’s major carnival at the end of the year.

And it wouldn’t be a Perth race without the influence of Bob Peters’ racing and breeding empire.

The leviathan owner has Arcadia Park running in the Aquanita Stakes and his New Zealand import Lillian contesting the Belmont Oaks at Bunbury.

We’ve taken a look at how Peters’ operation is reshaping and refreshing its bloodstock portfolio in what Liam Peters’ says is a reaction to generational change within its ranks.

What you may have missed this week:

• Taxes and triple threats – Global gambling’s new certainty and its impact on world racing
• SEN parent company to buy RSN for $3.25 million
• Revoked – Racing NSW loses Crown land management of Queanbeyan after government review
• Flutter cyber breach impacts Betfair customers
• ‘A mate’s phone’ – Defence falls flat as punter denied $15,450 payout
• ‘Horses’ welfare at risk’ – TBA fires back at regulator over foal declarations
• Run The Numbers – A High chance of sire success
• ‘Serious consequence for owners’ – Racing Australia persists with foal compliance crackdown
• Rowe On Monday – Bronco boost for Taltys, blue hens and big results, and lessons learned the hard way

Don’t forget to check out this week’s edition of the Straight Talk Podcast as Bren O’Brien and Tim Rowe discuss Peter McGauran’s departure from the Australian Turf Club, dissect Racing Victoria’s prize money announcement and catch-up with UK-based bloodstock agent Stuart Boman.

Enjoy your racing weekend,

Warwick Barr

Senior Editor

The Straight