EQUUS AWARDS 2026

My picks
TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY:
Champion: Palace of Arvernia

TWO-YEAR-OLD MALE:
Champion: Haute Couture

THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY:
Champion: Wishlist

THREE-YEAR-OLD MALE:
Champion: Star Major

SPRINTER:
Champion: Buffalo

MILER:
Champion: Questioning

MIDDLE DISTANCE:
Champion: See it again

STAYER:
Champion: Ahead of the facts

OLDER FEMALE:
Champion: DOUBLE GRAND SLAM

OLDER MALE:
Champion: See it Again

CHAMPION STALLION:
Vercingetorix

CHAMPION BROODMARE:
Palace of Dreams

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS:
Andrew Fortune
Louis Goosen

MEDIA AWARDS:
Print Media: 
Still Photography: Candiese Lenferna
Broadcast Media: 

HUMAN AWARDS:
Champion Apprentice: Blain Marx Jacobson
Champion Jockey: Craig Zackey
Champion Trainer: Justin Snaith
Champion Owners: Hollywood Racing
Champion Breeders: Varsfontein

HORSE OF THE YEAR:
See it again

 

Candice Lenferna deserves an award for battling back after her accident.. What a warrior..

Performance of the year has to be Eight On Eighteen winning on Sunday.. Been a long time since I thought WOW after watching a Grade 1 in SA

👏👏👏 Candiese had to keep her business going after a horrible accident. Much respect.....

Well done to the winners 

2026 EQUUS AWARDS –LOGS FOR 26 JULY

Johannesburg, South Africa — With the conclusion of 2026 World Pool Gold Cup day on 26 July, the Equus Committee has released the final logs for the 2025/26 season.

An impressive second place in the Gr1 HKJC Champions Cup saw See It Again (Justin Snaith) stretch his lead at top of the Horse Of The Year log from 138 to 162 points. Questioning (Vaughan Marshall) achieved a fourth place finish in the 2026 Gr1 Mercury Sprint, accumulating 5 points to climb to 129 and maintain his 2nd place spot on the log, marginally ahead of Hollywoodbets Durban July runner-up Wish List (Justin Snaith) who finished in third position with 124 points.

The final day of the season produced a number of changes to the Two-Year-Old categories. On the fillies’ log, Palace Of Arvernia (Dean Kannemeyer) moved into the top spot on 32 points after her victory in the Gr2 World Pool With Race Coast Debutante. The Sean Tarry-trained Get Up dropped into second spot with 28 points, while victory in the Gr2 Douglas Whyte Thekwini Stakes earned Marchland (Kelly Mitchley) 16 points to join Good Day Sunshine (Mike/Mathew de Kock) in joint third spot on the log.

There were big changes to the 2YO Colt/Gelding category too. A win in the Gr1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Premiers Champion Stakes saw Erik Dubois (Louis Goosen) soar to 32 points, joining Haute Couture (Mike/Mathew de Kock) at the top of the leaderboard. Rich Man’s World (Vaughan Marshall) remained on his rating of 24 to occupy the second slot.

The standings in the Champion 3-Year-Old Filly category remained static. Wish List (Justin Snaith) maintained her 26 point lead, topping the board on 124 points after her runner up effort in the 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July. Victory in the Gr1 Ridgemont Garden Province Stakes put Tienie Prinsloo charge Quickstepgal in second place on 98 points and Hazy Dazy (Corne Spies) rounds off the Three-Year-Old Filly table with 64 points.

The same applies to the Champion Three-Year-Old Colt/Gelding category. Tin Pan Alley (Sean Tarry) maintained his position at the top of the log with 84 points, Hollywoodbets Durban July winner Note To Self (Justin Snaith) remained in second spot with 64 points and Star Major (James Crawford) and Trust (Candice/Tammy Dawson) fill 3rd and 4th spots with 60 and 44 points respectively.

In the Champion Older Female category, Double Grand Slam (Justin Snaith) still tops the log with 92 points, while Asiye Phambili (Duncan Howells) finished 3rd in the Gr1 Mercury Sprint to secure second spot on the log with 63 points. Callmegetrix (Sean Tarry) concluded the season next best on 52 points with Mocha Blend (Frank Robinson) moving into 4th spot with 48 points after winning the Gr2 Bet With The World Gold Bracelet.

The Champion Older Male category has See It Again (Justin Snaith) on 162 points, a comfortable 33 points ahead of nearest rival Questioning (Vaughan Marshall) on 129. A second Gr1 Mercury Sprint win secured Buffalo Storm Cody (Tony Peter) 3rd place with 92 points ahead of The Real Prince (Dean Kannemeyer) who closed his campaign on 72 points.

The result of the Gr1 Mercury Sprint saw Buffalo Storm Cody (Tony Peter) move to the top of the Champion Sprinter leaderboard on 92 points with Asiye Phambili (Duncan Howells) dropping to 2nd spot with 63 points. Taxi To The Moon (Tony Peter) retained third spot with 48 points and the Eastern Cape’s Kingdundee (Dean Smith) remained in 4th place with 40 points.

There was no change to the Champion Miler standings. Vaughan Marshall charge Questioning holds a strong lead with 104 points, 32 ahead of nearest rival, Double Grand Slam (Justin Snaith) on 72. Tin Pan Alley (Sean Tarry) is next best on 68 points, followed by The Real Prince (Dean Kannemeyer) and Quickstepgal (Tienie Prinsloo) with 54 and 48 points respectively.

See It Again (Justin Snaith) retained his position at the top of the Champion Middle Distance category log, extending his final tally to 120 points. Wish List (Justin Snaith) remained in second spot with 68 points, while Mocha Blend (Frank Robinson) and Eight On Eighteen finished joint 3rd with 48 points each. Hollywoodbets Durban July winner Note To Self (Justin Snaith) occupies 4th spot with 40 points.

Ahead Of The Facts (Justin Snaith) increased his standings in the Champion Stayer category to finish on 30 points, only 8 points ahead of Gr3 World Pool Gold Cup winner Holding Thumbs (Glen Kotzen) on 22 points. Candice/Tammy Dawson-trained Enflame remains in 3rd spot on the log with 13 points.

Final nominees will be announced early next week.

While the panel will have the deciding vote on the winners in each category, the lists of nominees are drawn from the Equus Logs.

The 2026 Equus judging panel comprises Graeme Hawkins (Chairman), Robert Bloomberg, Karel Miedema, Aveen Sewpersad and Darryl Maree.

Further updates and information will be published on the official Equus Awards website ( www.equusawards.co.za ) and social media channels.


 

 

 

 

 

 

2026 EQUUS AWARDS – NOMINEES

Johannesburg, South Africa — With the conclusion of 2026 World Pool Gold Cup day on 26 July and the final set of logs for the 2025/26 racing season, the Equus Awards judging panel has released the list of nominees for the 2026 Equus Awards.

The categories and finalists for the equine awards are:

CHAMPION 2-Y-O FILLY:

1. Get Up
2. Marchland
3. Palace of Arvernia

CHAMPION 2-Y-O COLT/GELDING:

1. Erik Dubois
2. Haute Couture
3. Rich Man's World


CHAMPION 3-Y-O FILLY:

1. Hazy Dazy
2. Quickstepgal
3. Wish List

CHAMPION 3-Y-O COLT/GELDING:

1. Note To Self
2. Star Major
3. Tin Pan Alley

CHAMPION OLDER FEMALE:

1. Asiye Phambili
2. Double Grand Slam
3. Mocha Blend

CHAMPION OLDER MALE:

1. Buffalo Storm Cody
2. Eight On Eighteen
3. Questioning
4. See It Again
5. The Real Prince

CHAMPION SPRINTER:

1. Asiye Phambili
2. Buffalo Storm Cody
3. Kingdundee
4. Taxi To The Moon

CHAMPION MILER:

1. Double Grand Slam
2. Questioning
3. Quickstepgal
4. The Real Prince
5. Tin Pan Alley

CHAMPION MIDDLE DISTANCE:

1. Eight On Eighteen
2. Mocha Blend
3. Note To Self
4. See It Again
5. Star Major
6. Wish List


CHAMPION STAYER:

1. Ahead Of The Facts
2. Curious Girl
3. Enflame
4. Holding Thumbs

All nominees qualify for the prestigious Equus Horse Of The Year Award.

The Equus Awards judging panel for 2026 comprises Graeme Hawkins (Chairman), Robert Bloomberg, Karel Miedema, Aveen Sewpersad and Darryl Maree. While the panel will have the deciding vote on the winners in each category, the lists of nominees are drawn from the Equus logs.

In addition to the above, there will also be Thoroughbred Breeders awards for:-

• Champion Broodmare
• Champion Stallion
• Champion Breeder

Nominees for the CHAMPION BROODMARE category are:-

• Massachusetts
• Palace of Dreams
• Real Princess

The Media Award categories are:-

• Print/Editorial
• Still Photography
• Video/Broadcast

The Human Achievement Award categories are:-

• Champion Apprentice Jockey
• Champion Jockey
• Champion Trainer
• Champion Owner
• Groom Of The Year

The Equus Awards will be hosted by 4Racing for 2026 and will celebrate all that made the season great at The Galleria in Sandton on Tuesday, 18 August.

Further updates and information will be published on the official Equus Awards website ( www.equusawards.co.za ) and social media channels.

2026 EQUUS AWARDS LIVE STREAM

Johannesburg, South Africa — The Equus Awards Committee is pleased to confirm that this year’s Awards will be live streamed on Tuesday, 18 August 2026.

There will be two ways of following the evening’s events:-

Via the SA Racing Channel on Racing Today ( www.racingtoday.co.za )

Or via www.gallop.co.za

from 19H30.

A replay will be broadcast on Racing 240 on Wednesday, 19 August from 19H10.