![Chad Schofield onboard Tempted after winning The Everest [Bradley Images]](https://betsy.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/2379111-e1794436430745.jpg)
It’s the awards no-one asked for, and the prizes are non-existent.
But Betsy’s Chris Roots has handed out his gongs for what was an epic Spring Carnival
THE TRAINER
David Payne only has 25 horses on his books, but his spring haul, all from three-year-olds, is impressive. He took home two Group 1s, two Group 2s, and two Group 3s and unveiled an unbeaten star in Proxima Dea. She was dominant in winning the VRC Oaks and Spring Champion Stakes, as well as a Group 3 in the Gloaming Stakes. She still has to furnish, but has the genes of a stayer that have shone through this spring. Payne has another nice filly that was Group 1 placed in Bangkok Hottie, who won two legs of the Princess Series in the Furious Stakes and Tea Rose Stakes, both Group 2s. Add Persian Wonder, who won the Group 3 Ming Dynasty Stakes, and the former South African is looking forward to 2027.
“A stable our size you hope for one horse like that, we have three that all should be better in the autumn,” Payne said.
THE JOCKEY
Chad Schofield doesn’t ride in every Group 1, but he makes the most of his chances. He started the spring with not a bad book led by Tempted and Ceolwulf. Tempted delivered The Everest as well as the Premiere Stakes and Concorde Stakes for a haul before her Champions Sprint disappointment. Ceolwulf had near misses in the Epsom, King Charles III Stakes and Cox Plate, adding more than $1 million to his earnings. The talented Schofield makes the most of opportunities when they come and did that in the Golden Eagle on Skyhook after picked it up when Kerrin McEvoy was suspended. But for a protest being upheld would have added the Big Dance on Formal Display. Schofield has a season’s worth of earnings from the spring, but his aggressive style as him suspended for the next month.
THE HORSE
Cosmic Crusader arrived from the West with a dream, and over four months, it turned into reality. He outclassed them in the Bletchingly Stakes and Lawrence Stakes in July and August, which looking back is not a surprise. He became a Group 1 force by spring’s end. He could be considered unlucky when third in the Memsie Stakes before Birdman got over the top of him in the Underwood Stakes. The Turnbull Stakes would give him a Group 1 victory in style and started three runs in four weeks. He would then run fourth in the Caulfield Cup, when put into the race on a day when it was hard to take ground, and then got his biggest prize in the Cox Plate. Again Willie Pike went back in the Cox Plate, like the Turnbull, and again Cosmic Crusader came with final run and the winning one. He would have his colours lowered by Birdman in the Champions Stakes but lost no admirers. It was old school stuff from the Perth champion and there is more to come.
THE RACE
In a year where we started the spring with no clear standout in the Cox Plate, the Turnbull Stakes should have delivered the favourite. It didn’t but it delivered the winner as well as the pecking order for the spring. Australian 2000m races are often run at a dawdle rather than a gallop, but it wasn’t the case in the Turnbull, which turned into a test of stanima on heavy ground. Cosmic Crusader proved superior to all, ridden cold for the last run. The margin would blow out to 1-1/2 lengths, a clear sign of dominance over long-term Cox Plate favourites Aeliana and Sir Delius, which he would hold throughout the rest of the spring. The solid test delivered the best horse as the winner, but he went to prove it. While back in the field were Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup runners-up.
THE BEST
Autumn Glow started the spring with the shine off her after defeat in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes earlier in the year. But she quickly showed she was the best horse in the country. She ran quickest time in the history of the Winx Stakes to start an unbeaten spring, which included an easy win in the King Charles III Stakes. She finally made her way to Melbourne and again had a clear margin in the Champion Mile. She was barely challenged for the preparation, such was her superiority. By the time she finishes her career, she will only be behind Winx for Chris Waller and Romantic Warrior for James McDonald in terms of Group 1 wins.
THE UPSETS
Sheza Alibi came into the spring with the potential to become the best horse in the country. She leaves with a couple of a hard luck stories where she was first brave, then luckless. Her chance of to become the best finished when Autumn Glow was far too good for Sheza Alibi in the Winx Stakes. Sheza Alibi won a Makybe Diva Stakes but it was her final two runs that hurt punters most. She started long odds-on in the Might And Power Stakes and Golden Eagle and never looked likely in either in the straight. She was brave at Caulfield when surprised by a brutal tempo over 2000m, where she broke the track record, the only problem was Land Legend did it just before her. Sheza Alibi broke the 2000m track record. Punters were certain she would prove herself the best of her generation in the Golden Eagle, but she never got a chance to prove it. In the perfect spot at the 600m, by the straight, it became a straitjacket that not even Houdini could have got out of. Luke Nolen couldn’t go left or right, and by the time he went back, the race was over. Sheza Alibi will still be one of the most talked-about horses in the country in 2027, let’s hope she can get back to winning.
THE UNBEATABLE
Proxima Dea holds a perfect record after her first preparation, including a Spring Champion Stakes and VRC Oaks and trainer David Payne believes she will only get better. The dream will be the Melbourne Cup with the unbeaten filly, which will mean she has to step up. But if her Oaks win is any indication, she has the relaxed nature and staying ability to make dreams come true. “She has got a bit of growing to do yet. She will get stronger, and hopefully we will be back for the Melbourne Cup next year,” Payne said. She will target the Oaks treble next year with Australian Oaks and Queensland Oaks on the agenda.
THE UNLUCKY
All of Ceolwulf’s Group 1 wins have come in the spring, an Epsom and a couple King Charles III Stakes, but in 2026, he went close but couldn’t add to his tally. He raced at the level four times for a second, third, fourth and fifth. Traffic problem took away his chance of a second Epsom, before being no match for Autumn Glow in his King Charles defence. He went to a week later finishing on the heels of the Cox Plate placegetter without a lot of room in the straight. An honourable mention to St Gotthard that was runner-up in the Golden Rose and Coolmore Stud Stakes, but second doesn’t get you a breeding career. He will have that chance in the spring with no weight in the Newmarket Handicap.
THE SHOWMAN
Bjorn Baker might be Australia’s most expressive trainer, but he is also one of the best. His excitement at winning knows few bounds, and he got it right with star three-year-old Warwoven. Baker had always felt that the colt’s best would come at a mile, but before he got there, Warwoven took out the Golden Rose. Baker watched from Sydney as Warwoven proved his prophecy with a commanding Caulfield Guineas success. But it is his work with the media that makes Baker likeable to the general punting public, he is not only funny but insightful with his thoughts.
THE TACTICIAN
Ciaron Maher won The Everest and the Melbourne Cup to be the envy of all trainers, but his genius doesn’t just lie in the preparation and placement of his stock. It’s raceday nous that set him apart. The combination of preparation, placement and nous delivered unexpected Group 1 victories, including Land Legend in the Might And Power Stakes. He shocked and surprised rivals by letting the proven stayer run at Caulfield making the Group 1 into a test of survival, fitness and toughness that Land Legend won. That didn’t start on raceday, he had to have the horse at his peak to make the daring tactics work as well as vision and faith in him. It was the same in The Everest as he used Tempted in a way that hadn’t been seen before to force Ka Ying Rising to stay wide on a hectic tempo. The plan worked perfectly, but the final part of it was to go early and open a gap that the chasers could not close.
THE TRIFECTA
Ciaron Maher was set up to dominate the Melbourne Cup and he did so in record fashion as Point Of Law announced himself as a star of the turf. He led a Maher trifecta from Zahrann and Juja Kibo, which hadn’t been done before in 166 runnings of the Cup. It didn’t stop there as Maher had five of the first six home and six of the first 10. Maher proved himself a master by having each of his runners find a peak performance over two mile on the biggest day of the year.
POINT OF LAW WINS THE LEXUS MELBOURNE CUP! 🇦🇺 https://t.co/1yLOy9LDSy
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) November 3, 2026
THE COMBINATION
Chris Waller and James McDonald are storming towards 100 Group 1 wins in unison. The pair combined for another six Group 1 victories for the spring. J-Mac puts the finishing touches to Waller’s work, and neither rarely makes a mistake. It helps when you have a Autumn Glow, the only three-time Group 1 winner for the spring. They are the best in their fields and together are making history that will not be matched.
