WAGGA city winner Jo Jo Girl and Albury flying machine The Monstar will share Southern District Racing Association's (SDRA) Horse of the Year honour after a historic tie at Friday night's awards at Murrumbidgee Turf Club.

A good-sized crowd turned out for the second annual SDRA Awards Night and witnessed the first ever tie for the prestigious Horse of the Year title.

Judged by the SDRA committee, staying mare Jo Jo Girl and sprinter The Monstar could not be split after both horses went from maidens to open class gallopers within the one season.

Jo Jo Girl, trained by Wagga's Tim Donnelly, enjoyed a terrific 2013-14 racing season that was highlighted by a Saturday metropolitan win at Randwick in June.

The Monstar's biggest win came in the $50,000 Flat Knacker (900m) on Albury Gold Cup day.

Both horses won six races for the season.

Donnelly was honoured to win the award with Jo Jo Girl.

"It's great, she's probably not the best horse I've trained but she's close to the toughest," Donnelly said.

"Any one of these horses that were up for the award, would have won it any other year - it was a hot field.

"She had a good year, went from maiden to Saturday company so we're happy to win the award."

Cavanough was pleased to see The Monstar rewarded.

"I'm happy to share it," Cavanough said.

"He probably should have won the Town Plate Prelude too but it's not on should haves, you've got to get the runs on the board.

"Probably the amount of starts he had, his strike rate, and his win in the Flat Knacker helped him.

"He's a nice horse, you would be pretty happy to wake up and have him in a box if you're a trainer."

Jo Jo Girl's victory capped off a remarkable turnaround in the mare's fortunes.

She was purchased cheaply by Gundagai's James Tait and friends after showing little in her first three starts, with trainer Kris Lees.

In the space of a season, Jo Jo Girl won her maiden at Corowa on August 27 last year and went on to win six races and more than $100,000 in prizemoney.

Jo Jo Girl is owned by Tait, Jim Nivison, Ollie Tait, Dominic Neate, Alex Warner and Sinclair Munro.

The Monstar only debuted on November 16 last year when winning a Gundagai maiden.

He won six of his 12 starts, including the Flat Knacker and a showcase race on Swan Hill Cup day.

A three-year-old, he also finished third on a Saturday metropolitan race and amassed $100,000 in prizemoney for the season.

The Monstar is owned by Cavanough, Graham Edgar, Jeff Armstrong and Glenn Chapman.

SDRA secretary Scott Sanbrook was pleased to see two horses recognised.

"It's a rare situation where the judges couldn't split the two horses," he said.