The new season is nearly upon us and that means all over the country a new crop of rising two year-olds are taking baby steps in the best stables in the land with the Australian Turf Club announcing this week they had received 1927 entries for the 2026 Golden Slipper, so who is in the race?
Click here to check out Golden Slipper 2026 sortable data.
Yulong have won plenty of big races in Australia in recent years including the Group I MRC Blue Diamond Stakes this year with Devil Night, but they are yet to win a Golden Slipper. They have given themselves every chance of doing so in 2026 as the biggest nominator with 115 entries and the majority are homebreds with none of them named.
The Waterhouse Bott stable place a lot emphasis on getting their juveniles out and going early and are the second biggest nominator with 107 entries and they include the most expensive entry in the $3million Home Affairs colt from Shout the Bar that topped Inglis Easter.
Only one yearling made more money in Australia this year which was the Home Affairs filly from Sunlight that sold for $3.2million at Magic Millions to Japanese buyer Mitsu Nakauchida and she has been exported to Japan.
While the Home Affairs x Shout the Bar has not yet been named, one of the other Home Affairs youngsters in the Waterhouse Bott camp has been and it’s a ripper!
Bred by Yulong, the Home Affairs filly from blueblood Frankel mare Woman was bought at Magic Millions for $300,000 and will run for John Singleton’s Strawberry Hill Stud. Singo who bred and sold her mother, who is from his great champion More Joyous.
So what do you call a filly from Woman…. God Created!
Third on the list is Godolphin with 95 first nominations and the bulk of them have been named so a scroll through their entries is super interesting although the full brother to Anamoe is yet to be named.…. we’ll have to wait for that one!
Some of their names that jump out on pedigree include: Crime (f Blue Point from Golden Slipper winner Forensics), Round (c Brazen Beau, half-brother to G1 winner Cylinder), Sequinned (f Pinatubo (IRE), half-sister to triple G1 winner Bivouac), Promenade (f Pinatubo (IRE), half-sister to G1 winners Alizees and Astern), Hierarchy (c Dubawi from dual G1 winner Colette) and Dragonfly Brooch (f Ghaiyyath (IRE)), the last foal of blue hen Accessories (GB), the dam of five Group winners including multiple G1 winners Helmet and Epaulette.
The nation’s two biggest trainers are next – Chris Waller (94) and Ciaron Maher (91).
Chris Waller has cracked the case on getting an elite juvenile to the Slipper and has gotten a big colt into the field for the past three years winning with Shinzo, then finishing just behind the placings with Switzerland before going down narrowly this year with Wodeton.
He’s got plenty of talent to work with in the season ahead and his official entries under his name don’t include those expensive colts nominated by Coolmore Australia and they include the $2.7million full brother to Switzerland.
Ciaron Maher is yet to win the Golden Slipper, but has a smorgasbord of well bred juveniles heading to the race next year and they include the Aussie bred colt by champion US sire Gun Runner out of Golden Slipper winner Estijaab that made $500,000 at Inglis Easter this year.
Most Represented Sires
The father and son duo of I Am Invincible and Home Affairs are at the top of the list with 90 and 75 entries respectively followed by champion sire Snitzel, who had this year’s winner Marhoona, on 71 entries.
Most Expensive Entries and Least Expensive Entries
Some 35 yearlings sold for $1million or more have been entered for the Golden Slipper and below are those sold for $1.5million or more and you can click on the graphic to see the full list.
We have also highlighted the least expensive entries and it’s good to see plenty of Inglis Digital purchasers are living the dream with a throw at the stumps, again click on the graphic to see the Top 100 least expensive.
