Caulfield Cup 2026 Winner: Kingswood Salutes for Bedggood

Kingswood has won the Caulfield Cup 2026, the grey stallion charging down the outside under John Allen to hand Cranbourne trainer Gavin Bedggood a first Caulfield Cup in the 150th running of the $6.545 million handicap, on a day when defending champion Half Yours fell in the straight.

Kingswood beat the Ciaron Maher-trained Saint George (Craig Williams) by half a length in the 2400m Group 1 at Caulfield on Saturday, with Roger Varian’s English raider Enfjaar (Ray Dawson) a length from the winner in third. Turnbull Stakes winner Cosmic Crusader finished fourth for William Pike and Andrea Leek, ahead of Maher’s Kings Valley under apprentice Jabez Johnstone.

According to the official Racing Australia interim results, Kingswood ran the 2400m in 2:28.21 on a Good 4 track, with the rail out three metres. The win is worth $3.3 million to owners Glyn Davies and Mrs J Davies, with Saint George earning $800,000 for second, Enfjaar $400,000 for third and Cosmic Crusader $220,000 for fourth.

Drawn out in barrier 20 and carrying 55kg, Kingswood flew down the outside in the straight to score. It was his fourth run this preparation, coming seven days after he ran fourth behind Land Legend in the Group 1 Might And Power Stakes over 2000m at the same track.

Bedggood: “Thanks to the owners for backing me”

Bedggood was emotional after the race and paid tribute to his partner and stepdaughter, who both work in his stable, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. “We haven’t had to do anything with him all week. He’s just been about managing him, so yeah, thanks to the owners for backing me,” Bedggood told Channel Seven.

The win rewards a long-range plan. Earlier in the week Bedggood told Racenet that going “back to a handicap fourth-up has been our plan all the way through”. The British-bred son of Roaring Lion won the Group 1 Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie in New Zealand on Boxing Day last year, then resumed this spring by winning the Listed Heatherlie Stakes at Caulfield with 61kg. It is a first Caulfield Cup for both Bedggood and Allen.

Half Yours and Ohope Wins fall

The race was marred by a fall near the top of the home straight. Half Yours, last year’s Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup winner, clipped heels in tight quarters and Ohope Wins, who was following him, went over him, The West Australian reported. Mark Zahra came off Half Yours and Jye McNeil was dislodged from Ohope Wins, according to 7NEWS, and both horses are listed as fallers in the official results.

In an update from Racing Victoria stewards, shared on X by racing journalist Andrew Bensley, stewards said Zahra would be taken to hospital for further assessment and observation but was conscious and alert, while McNeil had returned to his feet and would be assessed by the on-course medical team. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Andrew Wu reported seeing Half Yours led back up the straight by his strapper and said the horse seemed to be fine, but that there was some concern for Ohope Wins. There was no official update on the condition of either horse at the time of publishing. Further updates are awaited and this story will be updated.

Saint George, one of five Maher runners in the race, had to pass a race-morning veterinary re-inspection after being re-plated during the week, before running a strong second. Maher’s other runners were Kings Valley (fifth), Naturalism winner Zahrann (sixth), Middle Earth (ninth) and Royal Supremacy (15th).

The crowd of 30,051 was the largest for Caulfield Cup day in a decade, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Kingswood joins a recent honour roll that includes Half Yours (2025), Duke De Sessa (2024), Without A Fight (2023), Durston (2022) and Incentivise (2021), in a race first won by Newminster in 1879.

Caulfield Cup 2026 full result