Emily Murphy's Horses to watch for the 2025/26 season
Emily Murphy • August 1st, 2025 9:52 AM • 5 min read
As the new season begins, it's time to focus our attention on what the next six to eight months might look like. Who will be the stars of our feature races in 2025/26? Can our leading two year olds cut the mustard at three? Will our three-year-olds find their place in WFA company at four or will the proven Gr.1 brigade reign supreme?
I’ve spoken to a couple of the country's leading trainers to identify some horses to watch for 2025/26.
One of last season's star three-year-olds was Damask Rose (Savabeel), she’s already at Te Akau's Cranbourne base and will start with a fresh run in the Cockram Stakes before a potential tilt at the Gr.1 Sir Rupert Clarke, Gr.1 Toorak Handicap and then Golden Eagle in NSW.
Of the other three-year-olds from 2024/25 I’ve identified three exciting types for you to keep an eye on:
Ardalio (Stephen Marsh) - You can expect to see Ardalio (Ardrossan) kept to the sprinting distances at four, they are intending on giving her a light spring followed by a focus on the NZ Gr.1 Sprint series including the Gr.1 Railway. All reports from the stable are very positive with regards to how she is progressing.
Checkmate (O'Sullivan/Scott) - According to the team at Wexford Stables, Checkmate (Mongolian Khan) should be in for a big four-year-old campaign, although connections are unsure of what that will look like, with the Gr.1 Proisir Plate and Aotearoa Classic potentially on the agenda.
She’s A Dealer (James/Wellwood) - the daughter of Ace High has only just come back into work but is really impressing connections. She brings strong form from last campaign with a fifth in a Gr.1 Queensland Oaks, expect to see her in action late spring or early summer.
The two-year-old season was dominated by La Dorada (Super Seth) and Return To Conquer (Snitzel), their immediate future is focused overseas which I think opens up the new three-year-old season.
My horses to watch would be Hostility (l Am Invincible) from Te Akau, lightly raced at two, he did a stellar job to place in the Gr.1 Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes at just his second start, he looks well placed to improve at three, taking a classic Northern based spring path to the 2000 Guineas.
From the Stephen Marsh stable, Gr.1 placed filly To Cap It All (Capitalist) and unbeaten Listed winner Little Black Dress (Snitzel) look like a couple of nice fillies with upside, who can make the transition from two to three, they are both hoping to target the Gold Trail Stakes early this campaign.
We know the impact Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott had last season with their three-year-olds. They settled on the lightly raced Varjak (Contributer) as their horse to follow, he has only had one start for a nice win at Matamata which sets him up well for his three-year-old season, the Sir Colin Meads Trophy a natural early target.
Just a couple of headline horses for you to keep on watch, bring on a new season of racing.
