Australian Guineas 2026 - Pedigree Profiles
The Group 1 Australian Guineas, first held in 1986, has a prestigious history, showcasing winners who have excelled in other major races and proved their worth as stud horses. The 2024 race features talent like Observer, Planet Red, and others. Observer, for example, is a promising Darley homebred with a rich lineage, involving notable stallions like Ghaiyyath. Each contender brings a unique and interesting heritage, contributing to the race's exciting prospects. The analysis of their pedigrees offers insights into the potential virtues and successes of these horses.
- The Australian Guineas has produced many legendary winners since 1986
- 2026 contenders boast impressive pedigrees and potential for success
- Observer, Planet Red, and other horses showcase strong racing lineages
Ghaiyyath has three runners in the 2026 Australian Guineas from his first Australian crop. (Getty)
First run in 1986, the Group 1 Australian Guineas boasts an impressive honour roll, won not only by horses who went on to prove themselves in other feature races, but also by horses who have made an impact at stud.
Who on Saturday will be the horse joining the likes of Zabeel, Triscay, Mahogany, Pins, Reset, Apache Cat, Miss Finland and Shamus Award?
1. Observer
Ghaiyyath - Smooth (Lonhro)
One of three Australian Guineas runners from the first local crop of European Horse Of The Year Ghaiyyath (a good effort considering there are just 73 of them), the favourite Observer is a Darley homebred out of the unraced, trial-winning Lonhro mare Smooth.
Bred on a 4 x 4 cross of Sadler’s Wells, with a strain of that stallion’s three-quarter brother Nureyev, Observer (who is also line-bred to the Kentucky Oaks winner Lalun and several high-class males including Mill Reef, Miswaki and Shirley Heights) is a half-brother to the Group 3 and dual Listed-winning sprinter Sandpaper, whilst his dam is a full sister to Lonhro’s best son, Pierro.
Pierro and Smooth’s three-quarter brother Laverock was the best Octagonal-bred in the northern hemisphere, winning at Group 1 level in France and Italy. The ancestress of this family is the Irish Oaks heroine Djebellica. Another of her descendants is the dual W.S. Cox Plate champion Via Sistina.
Smooth foaled a Cylinder colt last spring and was served by another Dubawi stallion in Too Darn Hot. She also has a yearling colt by Anamoe.
2. Planet Red
Admire Mars - Lucky Helmet (Helmet)
A member of the first Australian crop of the multiple Group 1-winning Sunday Silence line horse Admire Mars, Planet Red was bred by John Ramsey, purchased firstly as a yearling for $100,000 at the Magic Millions and then by Mick Price for $NZ260,000 at the Karaka Ready To Run Sale.
He is the third foal and second winner for the lightly raced, two-time-winning Helmet mare Lucky Helmet, who last spring visited Broadsiding after foaling a Hitotsu filly. Her yearling is also by Admire Mars, bought by Hancock Quality Bloodstock for $80,000 at this year’s Magic Millions.
Lucky Helmet is a half-sister to the triple Group 3 winner Flying Mascot and the Listed winner Koala Bear, whose grandson Trobriand is a Group 2 winner. Her dam Lucky Mascot, by Zabeel, is out of the four-time Group winner Arletty – grandam of the dual Group 1-winning stallion Xtravagant.
Bred on a 4 x 4 cross of the high-class globetrotter Singspiel, Planet Red (a descendant of the famed matriarch Teppo) can also claim among his relations the big-race winners Guyno, Tiptronic and Sixty Seconds.
3. West Of Swindon
Wootton Bassett - Fife (Starcraft)
Another horse from the first Australian crop of his sire (the late Wootton Bassett), West Of Swindon was bred by Qatar Bloodstock and purchased by Hawkes Racing for $350,000 at the Magic Millions.
He is the first foal for the Geelong maiden-winning, city-placed Starcraft mare Fife (second to Reset in this race in 2004), whose Group 3-winning dam Dane Belltar (second to Special Harmony in the VRC Oaks) produced another six winners, including the triple Group 1 winner Fawkner and the three-time Group 2 winner Tanby.
A descendant of the VRC Oaks winner Taj Eclipse, Fife was served last spring by St Mark’s Basilica, with her latest two foals being the yet-to-be-named progeny of So You Think and Toronado.
West Of Swindon carries crosses of Nureyev and Danzig and is a member of the same prolific Mowerina family as the latter.
4. Sixties
Flying Artie - Gracie’s Lass (Redoute’s Choice)
A full brother to the dual Group 1-winning stallion Artorius, Sixties was bred by Greg Perry and purchased by Aramco Racing for $350,000 at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
His unraced dam Gracie’s Lass was served last spring by Toronado after foaling a Pierata colt. Her yearling colt by Pinatubo was secured by the Anthony Freedman stable for $120,000 at the Magic Millions, whilst her two-year-old filly Jacaranda, by Home Affairs, is showing talent.
Gracie’s Lass is a half-sister to the Group 1 galloper Delectation, out of the imported stakes winner Grace And Power, a Group 1-placed More Than Ready mare who hails from the same great La Troienne family as her sire.
Sixties boasts duplications of three great mares within seven generations: Natalma, Almahmoud and Somethingroyal.
5. Bingi
Snitzel - Mezulla (Shamardal)
A second runner bred by John Ramsey – and raced by his father Stuart Ramsey – this son of Champion Sire Snitzel (sire of Australian Guineas winners Wandjina and Shamus Award) is a half-brother to the Listed winner Ranch Hand.
Passed in for $260,000 at Easter, he is out of the city-winning Shamardal mare Mezulla, a daughter of the stakes-placed Vamperalla, who sadly lost her latest foal by Pride Of Dubai.
Bingi’s sire is bred on a Danzig/Storm Bird cross, the opposite of Mezulla. Hailing from the same family as the Group 1-winning New Zealander Just Call Me Sir, he is distantly related to the Epsom Derby winner Crepello.
6. Officiate
Justify - Port Augusta (Encosta De Lago)
A son of the US Triple Crown hero Justify, who no longer shuttles, the Katom (Coolmore)-bred Officiate races in the bottle green and white colours of Yulong, who purchased the $300,000 Magic Millions yearling for $700,000 at the Magic Millions Horses In Training Sale.
He is one of four winners (from as many to race) for the Coolmore-bred Port Augusta, who was well supported in the market when unplaced at her only start. Also the dam of the stakes-placed Lady Young, she was served last spring by St Mark’s Basilica after foaling an Acrobat colt.
Port Augusta’s regally bred dam L’On Vite is a daughter of two champions – Secretariat and Northern Dancer’s finest daughter Fanfreluche.
That Group 1-winning mare, dam of five stakes winners, has had her influence felt around the world – in Australia as ancestress of Encosta De Lago (Port Augusta’s sire), Flying Spur and Home Affairs.
7. Romantic Encounter
Ghaiyyath - Romantic Whisper (Medaglia D’Oro)
The second Ghaiyyath runner, and another line-bred (4 x 4) to Sadler’s Wells, this colt made his way through the sales ring on two occasions. Bred by S. Hole, he was a $NZ60,000 purchase for Ka Ying Rising’s breeder Fraser Auret at the 2024 Karaka Yearling Sale, before being on-sold later that year at the Karaka Ready To Run Sale for $NZ425,000 to PR Thoroughbreds and Lindsay Park.
With some lucky owners (the Bamfords raced Americain) in the ownership, Romantic Encounter is out of the Randwick-winning Medaglia D’Oro mare Romantic Whisper, who died last year having produced just two other foals – a filly and a colt by Per Incanto.
Romantic Whisper is a daughter of the American stakes winner Love To Tell, a descendant of the influential matriarch Quiver, as is Ghaiyyath’s second-dam sire Indian Ridge.
8. Victorious Spirit
Ghaiyyath - Cornelia Marie (Reset)
The third Ghaiyyath runner, Victorious Spirit was bred by the Pope family, who remain in the ownership, and was purchased by Peter Moody for $200,000 at the 2024 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
He is the final foal produced by the Listed-winning sprinter Cornelia Marie, whose unbeaten sire Reset won this race in 2004, defeating Starcraft, the dam sire of West Of Swindon.
Also the dam of the Group 3 winner Tyche Goddess, Cornelia Marie is a half-sister to the Listed winner Chitabeout, out of a city-winning full sister to the Group 3 winner Great Condor.
Bred on a 6 x 6 cross of the great mare Special, via her grandson Sadler’s Wells and son Nureyev, Victorious Spirit can boast among his relations the outstanding galloper Rancher. Further back in his family is the Champion Sire Written Tycoon.
9. Onavuitton
Castelvecchio - Vuitton (Rothesay)
Bred by Noorilim Park Thoroughbreds, this member of the second crop of Dundeel’s dual Group 1 winner Castelvecchio is a $70,000 Inglis Melbourne Premier graduate out of a lightly raced, placed Rothesay mare.
Paying another visit to Castelvecchio last spring, Vuitton is out of the Group 3 winner Miss Vandal, also dam of the Group 2-winning stallion Eurozone and the dual Group-winning mare Miss Marielle, in turn dam of the Group 1 Coolmore Classic winner Peeping and the Listed winner Encouraging.
Bred on the terrific Sadler’s Wells/Fastnet Rock cross, Onavuitton is line-bred to the lovely mares Natalma, Almahmoud and Lalun.
10. Express Class
Exceedance - Miss Belief (Snitzel)
By Exceed And Excel’s Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Exceedance, and out of a mare from the same Danehill (3 x 4) line, Express Class was bred by Michael Rea and purchased by Moloney Racing for $60,000 at the Melbourne Premier.
He is the first winner for the lightly raced Wyong-winning Snitzel mare Miss Belief, whose dam Divine Rebel won the Group 2 Chairman’s Handicap and was twice runner-up in the Sydney Cup.
Her dam It’s My Sin was also high class, winning at Group 1 level in New Zealand, and this is a lovely family that has as its ancestress the famed mare Pretty Polly – a mare who is a strong influence in the pedigree of Exceedance.
Miss Belief went back to Exceedance last spring, foaling a Bivouac filly in September and having produced a Shalaa colt the previous year.
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