Autumn Glow made it 15 wins from 16 starts in the Champions Mile, leading home a Chris Waller trifecta, but pulled up lame and needs a vet clearance before she races again.
Autumn Glow passed her first test away from Sydney on Saturday, winning the Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington. The bigger news came after the race, when stewards reported she had pulled up lame.
Not as easy as the price suggested
Autumn Glow started at $1.18 for her first run at Flemington and her first start outside Sydney. James McDonald said she felt a bit lost early. When he asked her to go at the top of the straight, she took a few strides to pick up.
Once she found her stride the result was never in doubt. She caught her stablemate Lindermann ($16) and beat him by a length and a quarter. Buckaroo, another Chris Waller runner, ran third, which gave the stable the trifecta.
- 1st: Autumn Glow (James McDonald) $1.18
- 2nd: Lindermann $16
- 3rd: Buckaroo
She has now won 15 of her 16 starts and earned more than $14.5 million in prizemoney. She also won the King Charles III Stakes in Sydney earlier this spring. It was Waller's fifth Champions Mile, and his first was Albert The Fat in 2013.
The post-race scare
The stewards' report said a post-race vet examination found Autumn Glow lame in the left foreleg. She now needs a veterinary clearance before she can race or officially trial again.
Back at the stable, Waller reported that X-rays and scans showed no abnormality. He said she was showing signs of bruising to the left front hoof. That is the best news connections could have hoped for, but no timeline or next target has been given yet.
A big week for Waller
Waller finished the Flemington carnival with four Group 1 wins. Stormy Marco won the Victoria Derby and Lady Shenandoah the Empire Rose on the opening day. On Saturday he added Autumn Glow and Birdman, who won the Champions Stakes in the next race.
The punting angle
A bruised hoof is usually a short-term problem, but keep an eye on stable updates before you factor Autumn Glow into any early autumn markets. Lindermann's run was the other big plus from the race. He made the champion work hard over the final 100 metres, and he looks a Group 1 horse in his own right when he doesn't run into her.