UPDATE: Autumn Glow has been scratched from the Flight Stakes and the spring due to lameness requiring surgery to remove a bone chip from her right front knee.
Chris Waller‘s unbeaten filly Autumn Glow ticks every box as the odds-on favourite in Flight Stakes 2024 betting this weekend to continue the flawless start to her career at Randwick on Saturday.
Epsom Handicap Day featuring a triple shot of elite racing action headlines the weekend’s racing action including the three-year-old fillies facing off in the Group 1 $750,000 Flight Stakes (1600m).
It is a small but top-class field of nine engaged for the mile showdown and final leg of the coveted Princess Series where Autumn Glow is the one to beat chasing her fourth win from as many starts.
Two back the nicely bred daughter of Waller’s former stable star The Autumn Sun beat home the boys by a big margin in the Group 3 Up & Coming Stakes before her easy one-length Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes (1400m) victory last time out.
The Tea Rose has been the superior Flight Stakes form line to follow over the past decade and everything suggests that up to the 1600m now fit and ready to fire again Autumn Glow can take it out for the punters.
She dominates the Flight Stakes odds at $1.55 through Ladbrokes.com.au and gets the run of the race from barrier three with champion hoop James McDonald in the saddle again.
The challengers most likely to end Autumn Glow’s perfect run occupying the second line of Flight Stakes betting at $6 each are the fellow Waller-trained Lady Shenandoah and Snow In May for John O’Shea & Tom Charlton.
Waller chases his third Flight Stakes victory after Funstar (2019) and Zougotcha (2022) and saddles-up four in this year’s field.
Lady Shenandoah brings in the confidence of a las start win in the Group 3 Ming Dynasty (1300m) at Rosehill but the daughter of Snitzel will need to improve off that up from 53kg to 56kg at set weights in the Group 1.
Along with the favourite and Lady Shenandoah, the other Waller runners in the mix this season are Lazzura ($13) and Declichy Boulevard ($17).
Snow In May meanwhile jumps from gate seven with Kerrin McEvoy in the saddle of the filly who is another daughter of The Autumn Sun.
She went from a win in a Newcastle Class 1 fresh to the Group 2 Tea Rose as a 20/1 outsider and caught the eye running a surprise second that she will be out to build on in the rematch with Autumn Glow on Saturday.
The 2024 Flight Stakes is set to run as Randwick Race 6 at 3:00pm (AEST) on Saturday’s 10-race card.
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2024 Flight Stakes Field & Barriers
| No | Last 10 | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Barrier | Weight | Probable Weight | Penalty | Hcp Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 111 | AUTUMN GLOW | Chris Waller | James McDonald | 3 | 56kg | 98 | ||
| 2 | 1×12 | SNOW IN MAY | John O’Shea & Tom Charlton | Kerrin McEvoy | 7 | 56kg | 86 | ||
| 3 | 11×34 | LAZZURA | Chris Waller | Craig Williams | 8 | 56kg | 82 | ||
| 4 | 32×1 | LADY SHENANDOAH | Chris Waller | Zac Lloyd (a) | 6 | 56kg | 74 | ||
| 5 | 8x21x32 | DECLICHY BOULEVARD | Chris Waller | Nash Rawiller | 4 | 56kg | 72 | ||
| 6 | 41445×07 | MISS BUSSLINGER | Kris Lees | Dylan Gibbons | 5 | 56kg | 72 | ||
| 7 | 34×11 | HARLEM QUEEN | Nathan Doyle | Sam Clipperton | 2 | 56kg | 67 | ||
| 8 | 112 | WINGS OF DESIRE | Michael Freedman | Jason Collett | 9 | 56kg | 67 | ||
| 9 | 56×43 | POWERS OF OPAL (NZ) | John Sargent | Tommy Berry | 1 | 56kg | 64 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
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