Racing away from home for the first time in her career, Chris Waller’s The Autumn Sun mare Autumn Glow once again highlighted her utter class, securing her sixth elite level victory by winning the $3m G1 VRC Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington.
Unbeaten this time in, jockey James McDonald jumped the star mare away well from the barriers, going forward to settle in second position behind stablemate Lindermann who was coming off a last start win in the G2 Craven Plate over Tom Kitten.
Letting Lindermann cross in front and go to the lead, McDonald came off the rail to settle one horse off the rail, ensuring that the leader didn’t get too far in front as he can be hard to run down when he gets in the zone.
With the tempo starting to increase with 700m to run, McDonald started to ask Autumn Glow for an effort with the mare responding to come to the outside of Lindermann, but the battle-hardened war horse was in for a fight!
As the pair raced four lengths clear from the rest of the field, Autumn Glow eye-balled Lindermann before McDonald put his foot down and the Champion raced away to secure her 15th win and take her earnings to $14,628,450.
Holding on for second a length and a quarter back was Lindermann who took his earnings to just shy of $7m, while Buckaroo (GB) worked home really well to finish in third to give the Waller the first three home.
"She's a champion." ?? AUTUMN GLOW delivers a historic milestone for @mcacajamez, making him the first jockey to win every Melbourne Cup Carnival Group 1 race. #StakesDay https://t.co/XWGDb04Wn7
— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 7, 2026
Asked if he was nervous before the race, Waller said yes.
“I was because you don’t want a horse like Autumn Glow to disappoint,” said Waller. “There’s a massive crowd here today and it was good to see her go through her paces. She had to put up a fight.
“Lindermann, he dug deep and to come away that last 100 metres, it was special.
“Which was good to see. Lindemann, he's a really good horse. You saw a glimpse of today how good he is. He beat Autumn Glow in the Queen Elizabeth, he’s a really good horse.
“The owners (of Autumn Glow) are fantastic, Hermitage from Hong Kong, Mr. Messara and his team at Arrowfield. They've been terrific support and great to train for. They know a lot about racing, but they leave a lot to my team and have trust in what we do. They deserve it, they're the ones showcasing it, so it’s a good result.”
Asked what 2027 holds for the star mare, Waller said pretty much the same as she has been doing.
“Just sort of rinse in repeat. Just sort of do similar things. Not go too far out of the out of the ordinary, which is what we do with our horses. We keep it simple and try not to take too many risks.”
When asked where this ranks amongst other champions, Waller indicated she is right up there.
“About fourth. She’s a star. She’s as good as any horse that I’ve trained, it’s just about longevity. Winx just kept going and going and going for four or five years. She could beat Winx on her day, but Winx would probably beat her on Winx’s best day pretty easily in fact, especially over 2000 (metres). That’s the unique thing about people's favourites, you can’t really compare them.”
Having ridden her a little closer than normal, McDonald knew how tough Lindermann can be to pass.
“He’s so dangerous that horse because he’s got a beautiful high cruising speed,” said McDonald. “When Damian let the shackles go at the 600 (metres), just her, who hadn’t had a run here left-handed, she was a little bit lost at sea a bit, and even when we straightened and I gave her a click, she took about 50 metres to get going, but once she opened the shoulders up, she was never going to get rolled.”
“She’s just a brilliant specimen, a pleasure to ride, she’s just so, so special.
“He (Lindermann) was really good, but he's been well seasoned. He's a tough campaigner. He's such a good horse too. So, he had her stretched a little bit from the 800 onwards, but she's just in cruise control.
She was a little bit at sea, but now it was her first time left-handed in terms of under-race pressure. It wasn't until the last 100 metres that she started to work it all out.”
Asked if he’d classify her as the Champion Miler in Australia, McDonald agree.
“I think so. Now that she’s had this run here, it’s very foreign to her, but you look up at the Flemington straight, the roses, the people, she knew she was somewhere different and she was a little slow to balance and quicken up, but she’s a champion.
“Champions make their own luck in this game and she just plants herself on speed and away she goes.”
“Obviously there's great expectation. She’s the people's horse now. She's got an incredible resume, incredible record. She's an absolute pleasure to ride, a jockey’s dream.”
Bred by Newhaven Park, Autumn Glow was originally sold to Silverdale Farm and Shrone Bloodstock for $600,000 at the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale, before topping the 2023 Inglis Easter yearling sale when knocked down to Arrowfield Stud and Hermitage Thoroughbreds for $1.8m from the Silverdale Farm draft.
One of two individual G1 winners from three to the races out of South African Champion Sprinter, and multiple G1 winner Via Africa (Var), Autumn Glow is a three-quarter-sister to Newgate Farm’s G1 ATC Golden Rose Stakes winner In The Congo (Snitzel), whose first crop of 100 lives foals are 2yo’s of the current racing season.
Unfortunately, Via Africa’s breeding career has not gone to plan since foaling Autumn Glow, having not produced a foal in the subsequent seasons with reports that the mare may now be retired after her Zoustar colt was unfortunately born deceased earlier this season.
The sire of 14 stakes winners highlighted by five individual G1 winners, The Autumn Sun covered his largest ever book of mares last spring, and with a subsequent fee hike, the five-time G1-winning son of Redoute’s Choice is standing at a fee of $137,500 (inc. GST) this season.
