They have helped to transform a stable foreman into a G1 trainer; they’ve helped old racehorses find new homes; and they’ve given strength and encouragement to the thousands who perform everyday work in stables and on studs across Australia.

In 2017, the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards will again recognise those whose efforts go largely unnoticed and whose work is as vital as any other to the success and survival of the racing and breeding industries.

The Awards conducted by Racing Australia and Thoroughbred Breeders Australia will again honour workers in the stud and stable categories of Leadership, Dedication to Racing, Dedication to Breeding, Horsemanship and Thoroughbred Care and Welfare, plus a further category of Administration and Ancillary Services.

An overall Thoroughbred Excellence winner is chosen from the five stud and stable section winners.

Since their inception in Australia in 2015, the Awards have acknowledged outstanding talent, contribution and dedication, not only among the winners, but all who entered.

For one-time stable foreman, Mark Newnham, the inaugural Excellence Award winner in 2015, the GSSSA helped provide both the confidence and the means to set up a racing stable that produced a G1 Golden Slipper runner in its first full year of operation.