Champion jockey James McDonald is looking forward to getting back aboard Autumn Glow Feb. 28 when the 4-year-old mare bids to make history in the Verry Elleegant Stakes (G1) at Randwick Racecourse. The Chris Waller-trained daughter of The Autumn Sun has won her opening nine starts, and will emulate Black Caviar if she can win her 10th this weekend.
"You can't do much better. She's unbeaten, first and foremost, she's winning by margins and beating the best in the country,'' McDonald told Racing NSW. "I was blown away with the reception she got after the Apollo and I can only imagine that's going to grow. If we can promote her properly there will be plenty of people there."
Winner of the Epsom Handicap (G1) and Golden Eagle, Autumn Glow returned first-up in the Apollo Stakes (G2) Feb. 14 with a dominant 2 3/4-length success over stablemate Aeliana.
"One thing about Glow is she hasn't put a foot wrong, she loves her racing,'' McDonald added. "I think (race caller) Darren Flindell sums it up well, she's born a winner. Winners win, losers lose. She just wins. It doesn't matter, wet or dry, 1,100 meters or a mile, it doesn't matter.
"It's exciting for everyone involved. Her fans. Trainer Chris. Chris Harwood who rides her every morning. Myself. Her strapper Tshepiso Moagi. I've probably left a few out."
Joe Pride has admitted that Ceolwulf is likely to need some significant rainfall in the lead-up to Saturday if he is to beat Autumn Glow in the 1,600-meter (about 1-mile) Verry Elleegant. Autumn Glow is favored to extend her unbeaten sequence to 10 Saturday, with Ceolwulf finishing 5 lengths behind that rival when sixth in the Apollo first-up for this preparation.
"I'm not even thinking about winning chances because honestly, if that mare shows up with what she did the other day, you're probably not going to beat her at this stage of the preparation for us, with no blinkers and so early on," Pride said. "His best chance of running really well would be if the track is wet, so I've got my eye on that. That's probably what punters want to hear from me, 'is there a chance your horse could win? Well yes, but it would have to be wet, I would think.' Hopefully the first four or five and I'll be happy. That will be box ticked going forward and I'll know that he is on track. But I'm very happy with him."
Co-trainer Adrian Bott is another to concede that taking on Autumn Glow in this weekend's Verry Elleegant looks a tough task, but is hoping for a positive return performance from dual group 1 scorer Sir Delius. The 5-year-old Frankel entire finished off last campaign with wins in the Underwood Stakes (G1) and Turnbull Stakes (G1), kicking off that preparation with a first-up second in the Chelmsford Stakes (G2).
"We saw him first-up last preparation run a good honest race over the mile behind Lindermann (in the Chelmsford), hopefully he can run a similar sort of race,'' Bott, who trains in partnership with Gai Waterhouse, told Racing NSW. "They aren't going to be the ideal conditions for him, the mile is well short of his best and he's bumping into a few horses with the benefit of a run. We've tried to keep a similar routine with him early. His first two trials were particularly pleasing and sharp, that latest one was a little dour which they can do by that stage of the preparation. He's a horse that does what he needs to in his work. Once we saw him fully under pressure and tested at the elite level the way he responded was quite incredible."
Tempted primed to land first Group 1 in Surround
Ciaron Maher is confident that his The Everest (G1 runner-up Tempted can put up a big effort in Saturday's Surround Stakes (G1) at Randwick. Godolphin's 3-year-old filly has only run at 1,400 meters (about 7 furlongs) on one other occasion when third in the Golden Rose (G1) back in September, a run that preceded her second to superstar sprinter Ka Ying Rising in the Everest.
A first-up win in the Eskimo Prince Stakes (G3) has the daughter of Street Boss all set for this weekend's step back up to group 1 company.
"She's developing all the time. She had a light prep last time around, she was very good at all her runs,'' Maher told Racing NSW. "She's only 3, she's still furnishing so she's a bit stronger and a fraction heavier. All the mannerisms are pretty similar, she was pretty good first-up. I'm not concerned at all (about 1,400 meters), she ran a peak first-up last time around and ran back two weeks and the winner was obviously very good. I thought we were solid. That's why we took the extra week, we took on the colts and she performed accordingly.
"She's two starts on a soft for two wins, she's yet to run on the heavy so she could be better. I'm very confident she'll improve off her first-up run and from what she's shown she should be extremely hard to beat."
Planet Red, Observer Clash again in Australian Guineas
The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr.-trained Planet Red will take on old rival Observer for the fourth time in his career in Saturday's Australian Guineas (G1) at Flemington Racecourse. The son of Admire Mars leads the head-to-head 2-1 but the latest meeting between the pair saw Planet Red finish second behind the Godolphin horse in the Autumn Stakes (G2) first-up Feb. 7.
"He's a nice, uncomplicated gelding and he'll show up, but everything will have to go right for us to turn it around on Observer," Price said. "My opinion is no I can't (beat Observer) but that is not how we're training him. My opinion is Observer is the clear good horse, and we are there to do our best."
Planet Red scored a debut win from Observer in a maiden at Pakenham last May, with Planet Red again ahead of Observer (third) when runner-up in the Caulfield Guineas (G1). However, the gelding received 2 kilograms from Observer last start whereas they will race off level weights this weekend.
"I'm not sure how we beat Observer," Price said. "We rode our horse cold first-up and I thought it was a very good run, a long-sustained run. He's going well and hopefully he can take up a more forward position in the race. He's had a good prep for the race, he's sound, he's got good condition on him, and I've got enough horse to go to Sydney for something afterwards, but I haven't worked that out yet."
