Wednesday, 17th June 2026
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The biggest and most spectacular Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival at Rosehill Gardens and Royal Randwick finished last Saturday with a record number of acceptances since the introduction of The Star Championships in 2014, reports racingnsw.com.au. Over six Saturdays, a record $46.1 million in prizemoney was distributed to owners, trainers, jockeys and stablehands. The Carnival featured 18 Group 1 races among 48 Black Type events across 58 races hosted by Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club. Eighteen races over the Carnival offered prizemoney of $1 million or more including the $5m TAB Golden Slipper at Rosehill Gardens and $5m Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick. A total of 714 runners competed for three weeks at Rosehill Gardens and three weeks at Royal Randwick, including the 11th running of The Star Championships at Royal Randwick on 6 and 13 April. This fell just short of the previous record number of runners (723) set last year after two races were abandoned on Saturday. More than 7,000 owners attended across the six weeks – another record. Over the 60 races of the Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival, the leading trainer on a 3-2-1 win and place points basis was Chris Waller on 53 points, ahead of Ciaron Maher on 29 points. The leading rider under the 3-2-1 points basis was James McDonald on 47 points, ahead of Tommy Berry on 30. James McDonald was also the leading Group 1-winning jockey with six victories ahead of Damian Lane with two, while Chris Waller was most successful Group 1 trainer with five ahead of Ciaron Maher two, James Cummings two and Moody/Coleman two.
