2026 Yulong Newmarket Handicap Contenders

As always, it sparks lively debate, with the perennial discussion around the weights taking centre stage.

In 2002, handicappers nearly produced the perfect contest when Rubitano prevailed by a nose in a thrilling blanket finish. Eight runners flashed across the line within a length and a quarter of the winner, spread wide across the Flemington straight in a dramatic end to a great spectacle.

Few sights in Australian racing rival a full Newmarket Handicap field charging down the famous straight. While the introduction of mechanical barriers and movable rails has reduced today’s field limits, the race once drew massive line-ups. In 1925, a staggering 39 runners faced the starter, with three-year-old colt Valiard prevailing with 48.5kg.

The late Bart Cummings unsurprisingly holds the training record with eight Newmarket wins, while riding honours are shared among Harold Badger, Athol Mulley, Harry White, Damien Oliver, and Craig Newitt, each with three victories.

The weight debates that define the Newmarket are never far from memory. In 2005, topweight Fastnet Rock carried 57kg and was unable to hold off super filly Alinghi who had a three-and-a-half-kilogram advantage over the Coolmore colt.

Among three-year-olds, Ajax famously carried nine stone (57kg) to win in 1938, still the highest impost ever carried by a horse of his age in the race. More recently, fan favourite Weekend Hussler shouldered 56kg as a three-year-old gelding after his Oakleigh Plate (1100m) triumph at Caulfield.

Since Australia’s switch to the metric scale, 65 horses have started the Newmarket with 57kg or more, with only seven carrying the weight to victory: Shaftesbury Avenue (58kg - 1991), Takeover Target (57kg - 2006), Scenic Blast (57kg - 2009), Black Caviar (58kg - 2011), Hay List (58.5kg - 2012), Redkirk Warrior (57.5kg - 2018) and Zoutori (57kg - 2021).

With a strong group of three-year-old sprinters on the scene this year, another may soon join the illustrious list of 48 youngsters to have claimed the Newmarket in the race’s storied history.

Notably, twelve of the past twenty winners took the traditional path through the Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) en route to Newmarket glory.

Once again, it seems likely that the three-year-olds and the ever-crucial weight scale will hold the key to this year’s edition.

Who will add their name to the honour roll of this famous Australian race?

Boom colt Tentyris is back at Flemington to defend his sprint crown after an explosive performance in the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) last start. His finishing burst is exciting to watch and will be a drawcard for Flemington’s Super Saturday meeting. As it is every year with the Newmarket Handicap, the question mark is weight. Tentyris will be looking to join a select list of three-year-olds to land the 1200-metre feature and in the process set a modern-day weight-carrying record for three-year-olds. The closest modern comparisons would be Weekend Hussler’s win in 2008, where he carried third top weight of 56kg to victory as a three-year-old, 1kg off top-weight Dance Hero, and Fastnet Rock who was allotted topweight of 57kg and failed to hold off super filly Alinghi, who he’d beat at weight-for-age in the 2005 Lightning Stakes. That’s what makes the race so intriguing, and it would be a history-making effort to carry 57kg and win the Newmarket Handicap. Can he do it?

Tentyris currently holds the upper hand in his rivalry with the grey filly My Gladiola, leading the head-to-head 3–1. Yet, as is often the case in handicaps, the weight scale could again tip the balance in her favour and the history of the Newmarket Handicap may be on her side. Back in 2005, Lee Freedman’s brilliant filly Alinghi was narrowly beaten by the Coolmore colt Fastnet Rock in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) at weight-for-age. When the pair met again in the Newmarket Handicap, Alinghi saddled up one kilogram better off under handicap conditions, and over the extra 200 metres, she turned the tables in emphatic fashion. My Gladiola produced a similar performance in this year’s Lightning, storming home from the back of the field to finish second behind Tentyris, who tracked her into the race and proved just a shade too strong late. She also carried a half over her allotted weight in the Lightning, and the three-quarter-length margin was narrow enough to suggest a six kilogram weight swing could again play a decisive role. Can history repeat itself and the filly turns the tables on the colt?

The only accolade missing from Angel Capital’s résumé is a Group 1 victory. A multiple stakes winner with both the physique and pedigree to make an impact at stud, a win at Group 1-level triumph would only strengthen his future prospects, and the Yulong entire is certainly in the right hands to achieve it. Chris Waller has twice won the Newmarket Handicap, first with Brazen Beau in 2015 and again last year with star mare Joliestar. Since joining Waller’s stable, Angel Capital has continued to compete in some of Australia’s top Group 1s, recording close-up finishes in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) and Group 1 C.F. Orr Stakes (1400m). He also finished sixth in The Everest (1200m), beaten only two lengths by the world’s top-rated sprinter, Ka Ying Rising. His autumn campaign began under high expectations in the Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m), but after playing up in the gates and over-racing throughout, he never found his rhythm and couldn’t match Joliestar. Now, as he travels to Flemington for the first time, having been a scratching in the lead-up to the 2025 Australian Guineas, he gets his chance to prove he belongs among the elite.

Benedetta burst onto the sprint scene with a dominant win in the lucrative Inglis Sprint (1200m) down the Flemington straight in 2023. That breakout performance launched her into stakes company, culminating in Group 1 glory in The Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville in 2024. Since then, she’s raced almost exclusively at the elite level. She also had a change stable, joining Ciaron Maher ahead of her 2025 spring campaign. Now, just four starts into her new campaign under Maher, she looks to have rediscovered her best form. Lining up in the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m), she finished powerfully for third behind outstanding three-year-olds, Tentyris and My Gladiola, an eye-catching run and suggesting the shift in the weights could bring her into contention.

Caballus cracked the million-dollar mark in earnings with a stern effort behind Joliestar in the Group 2 Expressway Stakes (1200m) at Randwick last start. For a fleeting moment it looked as though the gelding had pinched an advantage but Joliestar kicked into gear and reigned in the Bjorn Baker-trained galloper. He rediscovered his best form in 2025 after a moderate spring campaign in 2024, where he went unplaced in five starts across Melbourne and Sydney. His resurgence began with a strong autumn return, claiming the Listed Ortensia Stakes (1100m) at Scone in his only run for the prep. A sharp closing effort behind Rothfire in the Group 3 Sydney Stakes (1200m) caught plenty of attention and justified his favouritism in the Group 3 Rising Fast Stakes (1200m) on Howden Victoria Derby Day. Racing closer to the speed, he was in control throughout to record a commanding victory that prompted Baker to test him at the elite level in the Group 1 VRC Champions Sprint (1200m), where he finished six lengths adrift of Giga Kick on a heavily rain-affected track. A recent twelve-length trial win at Rosehill had him primed for his first-up effort and the five-year-old is back in top order and returns to Flemington at the same track and distance as his win on Derby Day. Hugh Bowman makes the trip over from Hong Kong to take the ride, aiming to land his 100th Australian Group 1.

The son of Wootton Bassett may still have just the one victory, his debut win over 1100m at Rosehill, but he’s been remarkably consistent since, placing in six of his past nine starts. Of those placings, a lot of them are at the elite level, including a narrow defeat in the Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) and a runner-up finish in the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m), where he split the Godolphin pair Beiwacht and Tempted. Trainer Chris Waller has since turned his attention south after the colt resumed with a strong third behind Tempted in the Group 3 Eskimo Prince Stakes (1200m). He has since impressed in a Flemington jump out down the straight, his first look at the famous track which he’s yet to race on. Waller has won the race twice from seventeen runners in the Newmarket Handicap, winning last year’s edition with star mare Joliestar and previously in 2015 with Brazen Beau. Coolmore will be keen for the well-bred colt to secure a Group 1 victory, enhancing his stud value for when he eventually heads to the breeding barn.