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Autumn Glow remained unbeaten claiming a sensational victory for the punters in the 2025 Golden Eagle results at Randwick, solidifying her status as one of Australia’s rising turf stars.
The Chris Waller-trained mare delivered another commanding performance in the $10 million feature for four-year-olds to hand Waller a second Golden Eagle victory following his 2019 success with the inaugural champion Kolding.
“She is a star,” Waller told the media post-win.
“It is as simple as that. She does it each and every time.
“There is nothing that shows us that much at home.
“That heart and determination and presence that she has is really quite special.”
Jumping from barrier 9 with master hoop James McDonald aboard, the undefeated The Autumn Sun mare settled midfield before unleashing a powerful sprint to surge past her rivals in the straight.
“Today’s race was tricky,” Waller admitted.
“We could see the track was hard to get a handle on.
“Some horses aren’t getting through the going as well as you would like.
“Horses on pace were dominating. We knew we had to be a bit closer and they were running fast through the midstages.
“James was at her to stay with them. For her to come out as Darren Flindell said to ‘open the shoulders’ was pretty special to watch.”
J-Mac began to wind up on the top elect on the home straight and Autumn Glow responded, levelling up to the front-running Perfumist before drawing clear over the final furlong to salute and add another chapter to her stunning career.
“She gives me that ooh la la feeling,” McDonald said.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the best version of her yet either. So just incredible.
“We’re so lucky to have her. She can be out on her feet, and she just keeps finding.
“She’s incredible, I’m telling you. She is fair dinkum.”
On the line she had 1.25 lengths to spare over the runner-up Sepals, who got onto the eventual winner’s back looking to make a race of it before getting outclassed, with Evaporate eye-catching in third.
“Super run,” second placed jockey Ethan Brown said of the good Sydney effort by recent Sir Rupert Clarke winner Sepals.
“Inexperienced the Sydney way first time. Showed a lot of courage running into a superstar.”
Her win extended her record to eight wins from eight starts, following her dominant Group 1 Epsom Handicap triumph earlier in the spring.
“We have just looked after her,” Waller said.
“It is a simple as that. Look after them and they will look after you.”
Autumn Glow ($1.75F) was heavily backed into odds-on favouritism and didn’t disappoint, drawing comparisons to past champions like Winx for her consistency and turn of foot even on the Soft (7) rated track.
“She knew she was in a race today and it was all due to the heavy ground,” McDonald said.
“It was very testing out there for her. We had to ride her a certain way to obviously win, and she was good enough to do it.
“She’s incredible how you can give her a kick out of the gates and she just comes back, switches off and goes again.
“She absorbs pressure, she’s got an incredible turn of foot and we’re lucky to have her.
“She knew she was out there today. That was her first run where she really had an acid test put to her and she came through it well, but she’s done a great job.
“She’s incredible.”
The race, held for the first time at Royal Randwick instead of Rosehill, featured a deep field including international contenders and Group 1 winners, but none could match the acceleration and class of the unbeaten mare.
Autumn Glow’s triumph not only added another jewel to her crown but also hinted at even bigger targets ahead, possibly including weight-for-age contests in the autumn including the Group 1 $6 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) which will be held for the first time in history at Flemington next October.
“(Chris Waller) a genius, he’ll work it out,” McDonald said of future plans for the bonny mare.
“I don’t really need to tell him where he wants to put her, but God, I’d love to see her in a Cox Plate.”
Futures betting on the 2026 Cox Plate is already now open at race sponsor Ladbrokes.com.au with Autumn Glow now the $4.40 early favourite.
| 1. Aeliana | ||
| 2. Sir Delius | ||
| 3. Calandagan |
| 14. Autumn Glow (8) J: James McDonald55.5kg 1x111T: Chris Waller | ||
| 4. Sepals (6) J: Ethan Brown57.5kg 4x110T: Cliff Brown | ||
| 1. Evaporate (7) J: Nash Rawiller57.5kg 1x512T: Ben, Will & Jd Hayes | ||
| 7. Depth Of Character (2) J: Jason Collett57.5kg x0308T: Annabel & Rob Archibald | ||
| 12. Panja Tower (4) J: Kohei Matsuyama56.5kg 41x1xT: Shinsuke Hashiguchi | ||
| 11. Cristal Clear (12) J: Braith Nock57.5kg 41112T: Annabel & Rob Archibald | ||
| 3. Linebacker (5) J: Zac Lloyd57.5kg 18x71T: John O'Shea & Tom Charlton | ||
| 16. Modella (11) J: Chad Schofield55.5kg 5x371T: Lee & Cherie Curtis | ||
| 5. Willydoit (10) J: Tim Clark57.5kg 14x87T: Ciaron Maher | ||
| 15. Perfumist (1) J: Rachel King55.5kg 60412T: Bjorn Baker | ||
| 6. Fully Lit (13) J: Regan Bayliss57.5kg 51232T: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | ||
| 10. Shangri La Spring (16) J: Tyler Schiller57.5kg 47x74T: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott | ||
| 13. Seagulls Eleven (3) J: Tom Marquand56.5kg 6218xT: H Palmer | ||
| 2. Feroce (9) J: Josh Parr57.5kg 6x638T: Dominic Sutton | ||
| 8. Lord Penman (15) J: Joao Moreira57.5kg x2772T: Chris Waller | ||
| 9. Mayfair (14) J: Dylan Gibbons57.5kg 5x2x3T: Bjorn Baker |
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