Golden Slipper Greats: Winning Stallions and Mares Shaping Today’s Pedigrees

Kristen Manning

Editor

Last updated: Fri 20 Mar 2026 04:20

Kristen Manning 20 Mar 2026

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Golden Slipper winners have lasting impact on horse breeding
Todman and Marscay highlight successful stud careers
Their legacies continue in modern pedigrees

The Golden Slipper at Rosehill Gardens, a race that has produced generations of influential stallions and broodmares. (Getty)

Come Golden Slipper time there is always plenty of discussion about breeding, and with the big race beckoning, we thought we'd take a look at ten notable horses - five stallions and five broodmares - who have won the race en route to successful careers at stud.

The Stallions
Todman
Marscay
Rory's Jester
Canny Lad
Vain
The Mares
Fairy Walk
Courtza
Bint Marscay
Miss Finland

And we take note of which 2026 Golden Slipper runners have these horses in their pedigrees.

The Stallions

Todman

It didn't take any time at all for the STC's new race, one devised by committeeman George Ryder in competition with the AJC's autumn carnival, to take off - the inaugural edition of the Golden Slipper Stakes won by one of the best two-year-olds ever to race in Australia.

So brilliant that he was able to run an Australasian record for 1000m when saluting at debut, the Maurice McCarten-trained chestnut was a long odds-on favourite come Slipper day, and he was never in any danger of defeat as he put eight lengths on his rivals.

Suffering his first defeat in the Sires Produce Stakes before turning the tables on the winner of that race in the Champagne Stakes, Todman had run into another superstar - the mighty Tulloch.

Those two horses in the same crop, wow!

At three, adding the Hobartville Stakes and the Canterbury Guineas, Todman was taking on the older horses for the first time in the Hill Stakes, a race chosen as his lead-up to the AJC Derby.

But Classic success was not to be, with Todman spraining a fetlock after finishing unplaced in the Hill Stakes. It was at first thought that his injury was not serious, but he would not race for another two years... a torn sesamoid and a bone-chip amongst his serious set-backs.

Upon his long-awaited return at five, he had three starts, winning them all in decisive fashion, including the Lightning Stakes at Flemington and the Futurity Stakes at Caulfield.

Whilst well recognised for his talent - admitted into the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame and having one of the Slipper lead-ups named in his honour, and a statue at Rosehill - Todman is still a horse in the 'what might have been' category.

The first of his legendary sire Star Kingdom's five successive Golden Slipper winners, Todman (whose two-year-younger brother Noholme was also high class) was a great success at stud.

Over 77% of his 310 runners were winners, with 38 of those being stakes winners. He was the first Slipper winner to sire a Slipper winner (Eskimo Prince in 1964), with the race three years later taken out by his daughter Sweet Embrace.

Crewman, Ricochet, Blazing Saddles, New Gleam and Beaches were also elite-level winners for Todman, as was Imposing, who gave racing a great gift in the shape of Super Impose.

Todman was also an outstanding broodmare sire influence, with 11 Group 1 winners amongst the 45 stakes winners produced by his daughters. Amongst that tally was another Slipper winner in Inspired - as well as the ill-fated Dulcify.

The Star Kingdom sire line has died out, but Todman still makes his presence felt - most notably in the pedigree (fourth dam sire) of the Champion NZ Sire Savabeel.

Marscay

Another eye-catching chestnut from the Star Kingdom line (by his son Biscay), Marscay won six of his eight juvenile starts, mostly by wide margins, including the Slipper by a couple of lengths from Vaindarra and Grosvenor.

Like Todman, he was able to win the Hobartville at three (beating Strawberry Road), but was unplaced in the Canterbury and Rosehill Guineas; retired to stud.

Crowned Australian Champion Sire in 1992/93 (the final Star Kingdom line horse to win that title), Marscay never served the big books that are so common now, yet he still made his mark with 14 Group 1 winners amongst his 68 stakes winners.

His daughter Bint Marscay followed in his Slipper steps in 1993, whilst Triscay, March Hare, Sharscay, Miss Margaret and Great Command were all multiple Group 1 winners.

None of his sons reached his heights, but he was a great force as a broodmare sire, with 22 Group 1 winners amongst 93 stakes winners - including the 1999 Slipper winner Catbird and such outstanding gallopers as Elvstroem, Eremein, Haradasun and Defier.

If modern-day stallions can be carriers of the genes of stars of the past, then Written Tycoon is one such horse; his sire Iglesia is out of a Marscay mare, and many of his progeny carry the stamp of the 1982 Golden Slipper winner.

2026: third dam sire of Fireball, Paradoxium, Medicinal and Closer To Free, whilst Agrarian Girl is line-bred to him.

Rory's Jester

Speaking of horses who stamp their progeny... each time those who were lucky enough to witness the career of the 1985 Golden Slipper winner see a flashy chestnut at the races, their mind turns to Rory's Jester.

Five times first and three times runner-up from his eight juvenile starts, the Colin Hayes-trained ball of muscle also won a couple of Group races at three, but it was his natural precocity for which he is renowned.

And for his ability to pass that speed on, Rory's Jester siring 76 stakes winners, including the Group 1 winners Chortle, Isca, Aragen and Racer's Edge. The latter was one of his two Slipper placegetters (How Funny the other).

Rory's Jester's sons did not enjoy his level of success at stud, but his daughters produced 79 stakes winners, including seven Group 1 horses. And we still see his stunning looks in some of the progeny of Not A Single Doubt (including his eye-catching Blue Diamond winner Miracles Of Life), whose dam Singles Bar is a daughter of Rory's Jester.

Not A Single Doubt has had good Slipper influence as sire of the 2020 winner Farnan and grandsire of the 2021 winner Stay Inside.

2026: second dam sire of Shiki, and he appears via Not A Single Doubt in Paradoxium, Hidrix and Incognito - and he is the second dam sire of Tassort, sire of Agrarian Girl.

Canny Lad

Another Star Kingdom line Golden Slipper winner (by Biscay's son Bletchingly), Canny Lad was beaten only once in seven starts at two (a Blue Diamond second to Mahaasin).

At three, he added the Group 2 Bill Stutt Stakes (a memorable battle with Bureaucracy down the Moonee Valley straight) and the Group 3 Autumn Stakes, but it was one of his defeats that earns him great respect - a third in one of the best ever editions of the Group 1 W.S. Cox Plate.

A gallant third behind Better Loosen Up and Sydeston, Canny Lad had behind him such terrific gallopers as The Phantom, Stylish Century and Horlicks.

Standing 21 seasons at stud, the last high-class Star Kingdom line horse had 11 Group 1 winners (including Accomplice, whose speedy dam With Me was second to Canny Lad in the Slipper) amongst his 55 stakes winners.

None of his sons stood with success, but 13 of the 93 stakes winners produced by his daughters were Group 1 winners, and he continues to make his presence felt as dam sire of two Champion Sires - Redoute's Choice and I Am Invincible. And the former is the dam sire of the reigning Champion sire Zoustar.

2026: appears via Redoute's Choice in the pedigrees of Fireball, Guest House, Warwoven, Paradoxium, Stretan Ruler, Music Time, Campione D'Italia, Hidrix, Incognito, Streisand, Spicy Miss, Chayan, Pembrey, Gin Twist and Agrarian Girl (she and Medicinal are from Canny Lad's family, the former line-bred to him), and through I Am Invincible in Guest House, Incognito, Chayan, Agrarian Girl, Medicinal and Gin Twist.

Vain

It was a record Slipper crowd of over 40,000 in 1969, with the race seen as a Melbourne/Sydney, colt/filly match between Vain and Special Girl.

But there was no contest, Vain eased down to win by four lengths, with the late Pat Hyland aboard.

Beaten only once in seven starts at two, the handsome chestnut raced another seven times - winning another six races, including three in one rather memorable Melbourne Cup week... including the feature sprint by a stunning 12 lengths.

From his Widden Stud base, Vain (Australian Champion Sire in 1983/84) was represented by 46 stakes winners, his seven Group 1 winners including the Golden Slipper winners Sir Dapper and Inspired.

15 of the 99 stakes winners for his daughters were Group 1 winners, including Bel Esprit, whose daughter Black Caviar is one of the 12 Group 1 winners (and 73 stakes winners) line-bred to Vain, whose influence is still felt as the second dam sire of Champion Sire Written Tycoon.

2026: the dam of Guest House is line-bred to him, and he also appears in the pedigrees of Paradoxium, Music Time, Incognito, Streisand and Pembrey.

The Mares

Fairy Walk

A descendant of Phar Lap's full sister Raphis, Fairy Walk caused somewhat of an upset with her 1971 Golden Slipper, a race in which the favourite Tolerance struck costly interference (the race reported as being "one of the roughest in its history").

She was a maiden, but her win was no fluke, Fairy Walk having been twice Group 1 placed in the lead-up, later taking out the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes.

Fairy Walk was not the most fertile of mares, and by the time she was retired in 1990 she had failed to get in foal nine years running.

But four of her five foals were winners. Her first born Cheyne Walk won three times at the elite level (Spring Champion Stakes, Queensland Derby, Doomben Cup), whilst his three-year-younger half-sister Jubilee Walk won a couple of Group races, including the Flight Stakes.

Sharp Walk was a Listed winner, whilst Fairy Walk's only unraced foal Elegant Walk did her bit as dam of the Group 1 Goodwood Handicap winner Boardwalk Angel, in turn dam of the Group 1 Railway Handicap winner Coogee Walk.

Another 22 of Fairy Walk's descendants are stakes winners, with Crawl and Distill also Group 1 horses - as is Widden Stud's four-time Group 1-winning in-form stallion Trapeze Artist.

2026: her descendant Trapeze Artist is represented by Spicy Miss.

Courtza

One of the five stakes winners and two Group 1 winners (the SA Derby and dual Adelaide Cup winner Our Pompeii the other) daughter of the Group 2-winning juvenile Hunza, Courtza is one of only five horses (and two fillies, Bounding Away the other) to win the Blue Diamond and the Golden Slipper.

Also a dual Group winner at three, Courtza sadly died young at 15, having not had much luck at stud... a Sir Tristram colt injured whilst being broken in, whilst her first born, a filly by Danehill, was struck by lightning.

But from her limited opportunities, Courtza made sure that her name remained in pedigrees, with her talented son O'Reilly (a two-time Group 1 winner from just six starts) earning two New Zealand Champion Sire titles, with his 16 Group 1 winners from 96 stakes winners, including Ka Ying Rising's Group 1 Newmarket Handicap-winning sire Shamexpress.

The dual Group 1 winner Madison County is a descendant of Courtza, as are the stakes winners Take The Rap, Certainly, Keano, Pinzu and Ocean Beyond.

2026: her son O'Reilly is the second dam sire of Prague, sire of Pembrey.

Bint Marscay

A daughter of the 1982 Slipper hero Marscay, Bint Marscay was described by Lee Freedman as "probably the most natural two-year-old I have trained."

The winner of four of her ten starts, including the Group 2 Chirnside Stakes at three, Bint Marscay - who died in 2019 at the age of 28 as a much-loved resident of the Old Friends Retirement Farm in Kentucky - did not have a long career at stud, but she had impact.

From just four foals, she was represented by three stakes winners - the Group 1 Coolmore Classic winner Bollinger and the Group 3 winners Mannington and Sheraton.

Her grandson Benicio won the 2005 VRC Derby, and she has 12 other stakes-winning descendants, including two who have won feature races in the last few weeks - Sass Appeal and Cristal Clear.

Miss Finland

A second consecutive Slipper winner for Redoute's Choice (Stratum successful in 2005), Miss Finland - who died only recently at Arrowfield at the age of 22 - went on to win another four races at Group 1 level.

A filly who certainly knew how to find the line with her 11 wins from 26 starts, she retired to stud as the winner of over $4.6 million.

In terms of numbers, she had more luck as a broodmare than the mares we have discussed, with her final foal, the yet-to-race three-year-old Martha's Choice, being the last of her 12 foals.

Of her nine to have made it to the track, six have been winners. Four of those have earned black-type, with her best daughter Stay With Me in 2015 winning the same race - the Group 1 1000 Guineas - her dam had won nine years prior.

Stay With Me's daughter Waltz On By is a dual stakes winner, one of 29 winning descendants of Miss Finland. Like her, they like to win, with 83.3% of her clan being winners.