The final group 1 went in an unlikely direction when the Kelly Schweida-trained Miss Cover Girl won the Tatts Tiara for Damian Browne at Eagle Farm on Saturday.

The year belonged to Winx, whose unbeaten season included five group 1 wins, with the Cox Plate and Doncaster among them. Waller clocked up 15 group 1 wins in total and Bowman rode 10 in Australia. The pair also combined for three wins with Preferment, with the Australian Cup-BMW double in the autumn another highlight.

Winx, which will win horse-of-the-year, is back in training and will be the star attraction of the spring as she looks to defend her Cox Plate crown.

"It is good to have her back. She will start her campaign in Sydney and a second Cox Plate would be nice," Waller said.

Australian sprinters won group 1s off-shore as Chautauqua added the Chairman's Sprint Prize to his three top-level wins at home, including the TJ Smith, while the evergreen Buffering won the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai.

Chautauqua will have a light spring and is set to take on the world again in 2017, while Buffering, which was staring at retirement, will return as a nine-year-old trying to win a fourth Moir Stakes, a race in which he also ran second in 2013.

"He is showing he is still up to it, so everything going right the Moir has been a good race for him," trainer Robert Heathcote said.

Our jockeys also flew the flag on tracks around the world, Bowman and Tommy Berry won two group 1s each in Hong Kong and the underrated Browne partnered Buffering in Dubai.