Golden Slipper Tips, Betting, Odds, Horses & More 2026

The 2026 Golden Slipper is coming up on the 21st of March and it will be a ripper of a day watching not only the Golden Slipper but other big thoroughbred events across Australia. The Golden Slipper is a Group 1 race for two-year-old thoroughbreds on the Australian racing calendar taking place during Sydney’s Autumn Racing Carnival. The 1,200m race promises to be one of the highlights of New South Wales’ racing season.

To get you started, check out some of the key pieces of information on the Golden Slipper here:

The 2026 Golden Slipper will offer its participants an opportunity to take home some of the lucrative $5 million in prize money. This makes the 2026 Golden Slipper the single richest race in the world for two-year-olds! 

Who will try to replicate Marhoona’s success in the 2025 Golden Slipper? Scroll down for key insights and tips into the 2026 Golden Slipper. We also cover a wide range of aspects about the Golden Slipper, including odds, horses, field, results and more!

For all of you new, or inexperienced racing fans, there are a handful of major Group One races on the Australian racing calendar. Three of these major races take place during Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival, these being: the Melbourne Cup, the Cox Plate and the Caulfield Cup. 

That means that the shining beacon for New South Wales is the Golden Slipper! The combination of being the most lucrative two-year-old thoroughbred race in the world and an Australian major horse race, makes the 2026 Golden Slipper one of the biggest races to watch and one of the best.

At OnlyRacing, we also have a page dedicated to tips that come out every week for all the big tracks. Be sure to check out our OnlyRacing tips page for more expert insights into all the big races, including the 2026 Golden Slipper at Rosehill Racecourse. Rosehill Racecourse is one of the top tracks in the country and hosts many meetings with Group 1 races each year.

If it’s Golden Slipper tips you’re after, then you have come to the right place! Each year, the experts here at OnlyRacing put in all the leg work, so you don’t have to. We go through the entire field and analyse each runner’s chances of success in the Golden Slipper. Our free horse racing tips for the Golden Slipper awaits!

Our best horse racing tips for the 2026 race aren’t available just yet. We are waiting until race week when the final field is announced before getting stuck in. Once we have all the important information we will provide our best bet, next best and best roughie. Along with the Golden Slipper, we will provide our best Rosehill tips for other races on the track. 

Let’s use the benefit of hindsight to see how our experts did in 2025. All our 2025 Golden Slipper tips can be found right here:

Golden Slipper Best Bet - Rivellino

It’s a wide-open Golden Slipper and I’m not too convinced on the current equal favourites to put them forward as my best bet. So, I’m doing a little sidestep and going with Rivellino. You can’t knock the form of the colt who comes into the Golden Slipper unbeaten. You can currently pick up Rivellino with odds of $11 at PlayUp.

The colt has won three from three so far in his career including winning the Inglis Millennium and the Skyline Stakes. In the Skyline Stakes, he beat home Skyhook, who has since put in a dominating performance in the Pago Pago Stakes. He gets barrier three which I think will give jockey Hugh Bowman a lot of options as he can see how things unfold in front of him.

Golden Slipper Next Best - Wodeton

While Wodeton didn’t get my blessing as the best bet for the 2025 Golden Slipper, he is still a very good horse and Chris Waller always seems to get his 2YOs up and running for their Grand Final. Wodeton is the current equal favourite (along with Tempted), paying $5.00 with PlayUp.

He had his chances last time out in the Todman Stakes where he went around as the heavy favourite and ended up finishing 0.8L off the leader (Tentyris). If he had won that one, he would have come into this as the heavy favourite again, but confidence is a little shaky. Winkers goes on for the first time and he gets the services of JMac, there’s a lot to like.

Golden Slipper Best Roughie - Marhoona

As is always the case with these open affairs, there’s a lot of value to be found, you just have to pick the right one! I think I’ve found a good one in Marhoona for the Golden Slipper. She’s one of the few fillies coming into this one, so she’ll carry 2kg less than the boys. PlayUp currently has Marhoona listed with odds of $10 to take the win.

Draws very well, with barrier six and Damian Lane steps into the saddle for the first time. She popped in an eye-catching performance last time out in the Reisling Stakes, to finish second behind Tempted (the current equal favourite) by just 0.3L. The Reisling Stakes is one of the ideal lead-up races and fillies always seem to perform well in the Golden Slipper.

It might seem quite daunting that there are over 60 Australian betting apps that offer markets on the 2026 Golden Slipper, however, we have a couple of methods to ease your stress going into the race. It’s always a good idea to find the market or markets of your preference for the Golden Slipper and compare the odds across as many Australian bookmakers as possible. 

Then, place your money with the bookie you are getting the best price for your Golden Slipper selections. You should also conduct your own research into what each available bookmaker can offer you for the Golden Slipper. 

At OnlyRacing, we have a dedicated page for our bookmaker reviews that provides a full list of all Australian betting sites and which ones offer markets on the big events in Australian racing such as the Golden Slipper. There are a few bookies in particular that we like for this race:

• EliteBet - They have to be one of the best betting apps going around and you’ll find some great promotions and competitive odds with them.
• JungleBet - They have great fixed odds for horse racing. So, if you're looking for simpler markets in horse racing, JungleBet is for you. They also have some great betting promotions as well, so be on the lookout for those!
• Midasbet - If a focus on horse racing and betting sites bonuses is something you want, then Midasbet is the bookie for you. They are known for their focus on horse racing and boy do they do it well!

So, there are three of our top recommended bookies. If you’re looking for more recommendations on the best bookies to bet with for the Golden Slipper, check out our “Betting Sites” section earlier on this page!

When it comes to betting on the Golden Slipper, it is down to personal preference. There are, however, a few popular markets from different horse racing betting sites that are always good to consider! The most popular markets available across most bookmakers for the 2026 Golden Slipper at Rosehill Racecourse include:

Fixed Bets

These bets include the typical fixed win and place bets that lock in the odds of your selected market at the time you place the bet. As an example, based on our Golden Slipper tips for the race in 2025, if you wanted to bet on Rivellino to win the race and placed a fixed win bet at $11 one day before the race, even if Rivellino’s odds in the race drops to $9.00, you will still enjoy the $11 if Rivellino wins.

Exotic Bets

These types of markets include names you might be familiar with such as quinellas, trifectas, exactas and first fours. What makes these markets special is that if you like two (or more) different runners heading into the Golden Slipper, you can combine them into a single dividend for the race, where the money adds to a pool of other people betting on that same market for the race.

The Golden Slipper is a major race that brings out those occasional punters. If you’re one of those punters or just want a refresher on the range of different bet types available to you, have a read here:

The field for the 2026 Golden Slipper hasn’t been confirmed just yet. While we don’t know all the details about each 2YO that will make an appearance in the race, if history is anything to go by, we can expect a high-quality field of runners. All runners will be fighting it out to claim the lion’s share of the $5 million in prize money that is on offer.

We will also list the current odds for the Golden Slipper in our “Odds” section below, when available, so you can see which runners the bookies think will be in the race. If we are a few months out from the race, the odds will give you an indication of which runners are targeting the Golden Slipper.

Some of the key dates you should be aware of:

While the odds aren’t available for the Golden Slipper, it is important to keep in mind that they will be constantly changing. The odds are a fickle thing, so if you end up seeing a price you like, it’s a good idea to jump on while you have the chance.

We have to wait for the 2026 Golden Slipper field to be confirmed, but you can check out the runners that took part in the 2025 race here:

In 2025, we saw another bumper field of 16 runners plus two emergencies, just in case there were any pre-race scratchings. In the end, we didn’t see any scratchings, which resulted in Alabama Magic and Nepotism, the two emergencies being scratched from the race.

It’s no secret that scratchings happen a lot in horse racing, even in major races like the Golden Slipper. Scratchings can happen for any reason and at any time before the race. Although, if the horse you bet on is scratched, you will get your stake back. So, no harm, no foul!

Something else that’s key when looking at the final field is which barrier each runner is starting from. The starting barrier is known to have a major impact on the race as it impacts the race strategy for each runner. Some barriers aren’t as successful as others, so connections of the runners want to avoid those.

We just talked about how important the barrier draw is and if you don’t believe us, we have some good ‘ole stats to back us up! Some barriers have indeed seen more success over the years when compared to others.

Have a look at the table as we go through the most and least successful barriers of the Golden Slipper:

Looking at that data, the connections of runners in the Golden Slipper certainly don’t want to draw barrier 13. Barrier 13 is certainly unlucky for not just some but for many, as there has never (yes, never!) been a winner from that barrier. 

When looking at the most successful barrier, there is a clear winner - barrier 1! A total of 10 winners have jumped from the inside barrier, including the 2023 winner Shinzo. Barrier 3 has also seen its fair share of success over the history of the Golden Slipper, notching up seven winners in total.

Are you trying to find a winner for this Golden Slipper? Of course, you are! Well, when it comes to backing winners, a good place to start is the Golden Slipper form guide. The form guide and any form indicators will give you insights into any patterns of previous winners.

Instead of getting you to scroll through pages and pages of the form guide for the Golden Slipper, we have made things easier for you! There are a few key form indicators that you should look at before you finalise your bet for the big race. Each Group 1 race is different and this means there are different form indicators to look at. So, let’s get cracking, shall we?

If you’re looking at races before the Golden Slipper, the ideal ones to pay attention to are the Todman Stakes and the Reisling Stakes. These two races combined have produced 12 of the last 15 Golden Slipper winners!

Previous form is important to look at as well, with 14 Golden Slipper winners either winning or finishing second in their last race before the Golden Slipper (since 2009). If you look back even further, in the last 32 years, no winner has finished lower than fourth in their lead-up race to the Golden Slipper. 

When it comes to trainers, it looks like Gai Waterhouse has the magic touch! She has trained a whopping eight winners of the Golden Slipper since 2007. It certainly pays to check out the runners she has in the race, that’s for sure. In 2024, Gai Waterhouse struck again (with the help of Adrian Bott) as their runner, Lady Of Camelot, won the race.

Fillies are an ideal choice as well. It’s been a pretty even split between fillies and colts in the last 12 years of the Golden Slipper, but overall 31 fillies have won the race. Recently, fillies Lady Of Camelot and Marhoona won the race in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Now, we’ve got some bad news for favourite punters. The Golden Slipper favourite has not performed very well in this race over the years. In fact, since 2008, only eight favourites have gone on to win the race. In 2022 and 2023, the winner of the Golden Slipper had double-digit odds!

We see the top 2YOs competing in the Golden Slipper every year, and this has been the case since its inception in 1957. Some wins have been more epic than others though and we have gone through all the winning horses from the Golden Slipper and picked out some that have an interesting background.

These are some of the best horses that have ever competed and won the Golden Slipper. So, check out the Golden Slipper horses here:

Todman - 1957

Todman was the first-ever winner of the Golden Slipper, and he is no doubt one of the greatest racehorses ever. Inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame in 2005, he also has a Group 2 race named after him, the Todman Stakes at Randwick Racecourse. He dominantly won the Golden Slipper, by eight lengths, and his credibility really put the Golden Slipper on the map.

Vain - 1969

The Golden Slipper had been running for almost a decade now, and each year the race rose in popularity. It peaked in 1969, with a record crowd coming out to see the most interesting interstate rivalry between Victoria’s Vain and New South Wales’ Special Girl. It was Victoria that had the last laugh, with Vain willing by four lengths, and becoming the first Victorian runner to win the race. 

Luskin Star - 1977

Luskin Star’s form coming into the Golden Slipper was red-hot winning the Silver Slipper and Todman Slipper. He was equal favourite and completely outclassed the quality field, winning by seven lengths, and breaking the race record by over a second. Luskin Star also went on to win the Sires Produce Stakes and the Champagne Stakes in his career as well.

Bounding Away - 1986

In 1986, the prize money of the Golden Slipper was raised to $1 million, and it was filly Bounding Away that won, getting the lion’s share of the purse. Bounding Away was T J Smith’s fifth Golden Slipper win as a trainer. But it was also the first time the trainer, owner and breeder were the same person! The filly was also named Australasian Horse of the Year and won several Group 1s including the Blue Diamond Stakes, the Flight Stakes and the Champagne Stakes.

Belle Du Jour - 2000

Belle Du Jour’s win in the 2000 Golden Slipper was nothing if not remarkable. She bombed the start and looked down and out for all money. Belle Du Jour had other ideas though, she got on the inside of another runner, Crowned Glory, and completely motored to the line, winning by half a head. This was the fourth Golden Slipper win for trainer Clarry Conners.

Farnan - 2020

Looking into more recent Golden Slipper winners now, Farnan stands out for several different reasons. Firstly, the race was run without a crowd, due to COVID. Secondly, Farnan’s win gave Gai Waterhouse her seventh Golden Slipper win. He was also named the Australian Two Year Old of the Year in the 2019-2020 season.

The Golden Slipper odds play a major role in understanding value. You might have found the runner you want to bet on but if the odds are too low, you’re not really getting any value and it may end up being better looking at other runners to get more bang for your buck.

With a race as big as the Golden Slipper, you’ll find that all the major horse racing betting apps will open markets for the event well before race day. The odds in all horse racing markets will certainly change dramatically in the lead-up to the race, as more information about potential runners becomes available. 

Here at OnlyRacing, we think the best time to bet on the Golden Slipper is when the market is “Before Noms”. This is because if your chosen runner doesn’t make it into the final field, you’ll get your cash back and hopefully you’ll be able to bag a winner! 

If you’re betting when the market is “All-In”, then it’s important to know that if your horse doesn’t make it into the field, you won’t have the opportunity to get your stake back. Betting in futures markets is also a good idea because you’re more likely to get bigger odds.

While PlayUp hasn’t released their 2026 Golden Slipper odds just yet, we can take a look to see what the market was doing in 2025, just a couple of days before the race: 

*Odds correct as of 20/03/2025.

The Golden Slipper, one of Australia's biggest horse races, is held each year in the Autumn Racing Carnival in Sydney. It's a 1200-metre race that sees the best 2YOs fight it out for glory. With a race with so much history and hype, there’s bound to be some interesting stats! 

Some fun facts about the Golden Slipper race and its history:

• The legendary Gai Waterhouse has won the most Golden Slipper titles as a trainer with eight.
• Gai Waterhouse was also the first female trainer to win the Golden Slipper.
• The legendary T J Smith (who also happens to be Gai Waterhouse’s father), has six victories in the Golden Slipper to his name.
• By the same token, the jockey title for most Golden Slipper victories is shared between Shane Dye and Ron Quinton, both boasting four victories in their name.
• In the 1963 iteration of the Golden Slipper, won by Pago Pago, the race scheduled for the 23rd of March 1963 was changed to four days later on the 27th of March 1963, due to wet weather.
• In 2021, the Golden Slipper was again postponed due to wet weather. The race (and the remaining Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival days) was postponed by one week.
• The race was run over a total distance of 6 furlongs, until 1973 when it became the 1,200m event we know today. 
• The Golden Slipper was officially a Group 1 in 1980, with Dark Eclipse winning the race that year.

So, there you have it - a compilation of fascinating facts about one of Australia's biggest races, the Golden Slipper! These stats are what make the Golden Slipper what it is today, but if you’re looking for more about form indicators, just take a scroll up to our “Form Guide” section.

The 2026 Golden Slipper will join a long line of entertaining and prestigious contests in the series of Golden Slipper races that have made the event the premier two-year-old thoroughbred race around the world. The race is held each year during the Autumn Racing Carnival, which is one of the biggest horse racing carnivals on the calendar.

The Rosehill Racecourse-based Golden Slipper also offers the most prize money for participants of all two-year-old races globally, with a whopping $5 million shared around the 16 runners. It is this prize money that brings only the highest quality 2YOs to the track.

The history of the Golden Slipper began in 1957 with the inaugural Golden Slipper race won by Todman, an icon in Australian racing. An important thing to note is that Todman was sired by Star Kingdom, who went on to sire the next four Golden Slipper champions from 1958-1961. 

By 1986, the Golden Slipper race had become the first New South Wales-based Group 1 race to offer its participants a seven-figure prize pool of exactly $1 million. This was a timely change due to the prestige surrounding the Golden Slipper and the sheer number of eyes it drew to the spectacle at Rosehill Racecourse.

As you probably already know by now, the Golden Slipper is just one of many races on the Group 1 racing calendar. If you’ve got some time on your hands and want to learn more about other key races, our Group One races list will provide all the details you’re looking for.

The all-important Golden Slipper results determine if you’ve come out a winner with your bet or not. In our Golden Slipper results section, we will cover all the key information you’ve been looking for, like the full finishing position order as well as the most recent race replay.

The 2025 Golden Slipper was a close finish, with the top three split by just 0.65L! Winning the Golden Slipper was Marhoona, who was paying $8.00 just before the jump. Coming in second place by just 0.14L Wodeton, who was ridden by James McDonald.

Filling in the final minor placings was the pre-race favourite, Tempted. Ridden by Blake Shinn, the filly jumped from barrier one, the barrier that has produced the most winners in the history of the race. In the end, there was a total of 26.9L that split the field and the race was run in a time of 1:10.00.

Check out the full 2025 Golden Slipper results here:

You’ve read the table, now it’s time for the video replay! Check out the full race replay of the 2025 Golden Slipper:

You know who won the Golden Slipper in 2025, but who has won the great race before that? Check out the table to see all the most recent winners, up until 2010:

As already discussed, there is a lot of prize money on the table for the Golden Slipper. A total of $5 million to be exact! The prize money is split between all 16 runners of the race, so everyone gets a little something (with the winner getting the lion’s share, of course).

Check out the Golden Slipper prize money split here:

Now, if you’ve read through all the information on this page about the Golden Slipper and still have some questions, we’ve got you covered! Our final section, the Golden Slipper FAQs, will hopefully answer any remaining questions you have.