Annual Awards
2025 Champion First Season Stallion -
PRINCE FAWAZ
Top Performer: Idyllic Affair (f. 2022 – Sunday Drive). 2 starts. 1-1-0. A$112,450.
Prince Fawaz, a Group 1-winning juvenile himself, has captured the title of Champion First Season Stallion in Queensland with his debut crop showing early promise. From just 10 runners, his progeny amassed earnings of A$162,265.
Leading the way for Prince Fawaz was the highly promising Michael Freedman trained, Idyllic Affair. From just the 2 starts as a juvenile, the filly debuted with an eye-catching second at Eagle Farm when coming from the tail of the field, before going one better at Doomben the following start. Immediately tipped out after this effort she was put away to target the spring with her trainer confident that once she gets out to a mile and further she will really come into her own.
Prince Fawaz, a son of Fastnet Rock, won the Group 1 J.J. Atkins Stakes at Eagle Farm as a two-year-old and returned at three to finish second in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes.
Retired to Oaklands Stud on the Darling Downs, he has been given strong support by local breeders seeking a blend of precocity and middle-distance pedigree. As his crops grow, Prince Fawaz looks set to develop further into a consistent source of winners for the state.
2025 Champion 2YO Stallion - SPIRIT OF BOOM
Top 2YO Performer: Shining Smile (c. 2022 – Nataya Rose). 7 starts. 5-1-1. A$485,250.
Outstanding stallion Spirit of Boom has once again reinforced his reputation as one of Queensland’s greatest ever sires by being crowned Champion 2YO Stallion for 2025 – the fifth time he has won this prestigious title. During the 2024-25 season, his 42 juvenile runners yielded 9 winners and 17 wins overall, with two of those being stakes winners, and total earnings of A$1,765,185.
The standout performer was the Ben, Will and JD Hayes trained Shining Smile, who won twice at stakes level in Melbourne on his way to completing a remarkable season with 5 wins from just 7 starts and never finishing out of a place. Spirit of Boom once again finished within the Top 10 Stallions nationally on the Australian 2YO sire rankings—a feat he has now achieved for the third time in the last four years.
Spirit of Boom, a dual Group 1 winner by Sequalo, has consistently produced tough, fast, and durable juveniles. His latest juvenile crop not only showed speed but also versatility, securing four stakes wins across the season. Based at Eureka Stud, Spirit of Boom continues to be the benchmark for 2YO performance in Queensland, backed by strong breeder support and reliable commercial appeal.
2025 Champion Stallion - BETTER THAN READY
Top Performer: Hidden Wealth (g. 2019 – Miss Cash). 9 starts. 3-1-0. A$1,143,275.
For the third year running, Better Than Ready has been crowned Queensland Champion Stallion, capping a superb season where his 304 runners accounted for 144 winners and 222 wins, including four individual stakes winners of five stakes races and collecting an impressive A$11,485,640 in prizemoney.
Among many highlights was his top earner Hidden Wealth, who exceeded A$1.1 million in earnings and captured multiple feature races, along with the Group One winner Port Lockroy who saluted in the time honoured WATC Railway Stakes, and winner of the Magic Millions National 2YO Classic, Isti Star, reinforcing Better Than Ready's broad influence across age groups and distances.
Better Than Ready, by More Than Ready, has firmly entrenched himself as Queensland’s premier commercial stallion. Trained by Kelly Schweida during his own racing days, he retired to Lyndhurst Stud in 2016 and has since become a cornerstone sire for the Sunshine State, producing a steady stream of city-class and black-type performers.
Across his stud career, he has now surpassed $56 million in progeny earnings, with over 1,200 individual wins - a testament to his consistency, soundness, and class. His influence on the Queensland breeding landscape continues to grow, with several of his sons now entering stud and carrying forward his legacy for prominent breeders, Richard and Joanie Foster at Yarramalong Stud.
2024 Broodmare of the Year - Ready To Rule
Top Performer: Southport Tycoon (c. 2020 – by Written Tycoon). 8 starts. 3-3-0. A$872,250.
** 2025 BROODMARE OF THE YEAR TO BE ANNOUNCED AT RQ AWARDS
Ready To Rule has earned Queensland’s Broodmare of the Year award on the back of her colt, Southport Tycoon’s success in the Gr 1 Australian Guineas and other performances at Gr 2 and Gr 3 level.
When Southport Tycoon won the Australian Guineas at Flemington, it was a wonderful result for Daandine Stud, as he had been sired by Daandine-bred Written Tycoon from the stud’s US-bred Ready To Rule (by More Than Ready).
Southport Tycoon, a $300,000 yearling, won the Guineas after being runner-up in the Gr 2 Australia Stakes at Moonee Valley and the Gr 2 Autumn Stakes at Caulfield. Earlier in his three-year-old season Southport Tycoon won at Geelong and Sandown at his first two starts and then ran second in the Gr 3 Guineas Prelude at Caulfield.
He became the second Gr 1 winner produced by Daandine and sired by Written Tycoon in recent years, following on the success of Capitalist in the 2016 Golden Slipper.
Daandine has been part of the Queensland breeding industry for the past 100 years since being founded by current principal Jan Clark’s great-grandfather.
Jan Clark purchased Ready To Rule in 2015 for $260,000 in the mare’s first season at stud. The mare has a pedigree rich in black-type, being a sister to the US Listed winner Grace And Power, the dam of Gr 1 VRC Darley Classic winner Delectation and grand-dam of Blue Diamond Stakes winner Artorius.
The other 2024 Broodmare Finalists included:
Wilrace Pty Ltd’s Cellargirl (dam of Gr1 Queensland Oaks placed Miss Joelene),
Hutchins Thoroughbreds’ Gaudeamus (dam of Gr 1 Hong Kong Golden Mile winner Golden Sixty),
Yarramalong Stud’s New Wings (dam of Gr 2 Callander-Presnell winner Chrysaor)
To produce a Group winner is every breeders’ dream. Congratulations to all involved!
You can read about the awards criteria here TBQA Awards Criteria - Thoroughbred Breeders Queensland Association (queenslandbreeders.com.au)
