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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.
Ladbrokes Cox Plate 2026 Odds
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1. Autumn Glow
T: |
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2. Sir Delius
T: |
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3. Via Sistina
T: |
Golden Eagle 2025 Results
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1st
14. Autumn Glow (8)
J: James McDonald 55.5kg
T: Chris Waller |
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2nd
4. Sepals (6)
J: Ethan Brown 57.5kg
T: Cliff Brown |
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3rd
1. Evaporate (7)
J: Nash Rawiller 57.5kg
T: Ben, Will & Jd Hayes |
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4th
7. Depth Of Character (2)
J: Jason Collett 57.5kg
T: Annabel & Rob Archibald |
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5th
12. Panja Tower (4)
J: Kohei Matsuyama 56.5kg
T: Shinsuke Hashiguchi |
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6th
11. Cristal Clear (12)
J: Braith Nock 57.5kg
T: Annabel & Rob Archibald |
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7th
3. Linebacker (5)
J: Zac Lloyd 57.5kg
T: John O'Shea & Tom Charlton |
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8th
16. Modella (11)
J: Chad Schofield 55.5kg
T: Lee & Cherie Curtis |
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9th
5. Willydoit (10)
J: Tim Clark 57.5kg
T: Ciaron Maher |
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10th
15. Perfumist (1)
J: Rachel King 55.5kg
T: Bjorn Baker |
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11th
6. Fully Lit (13)
J: Regan Bayliss 57.5kg
T: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott |
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12th
10. Shangri La Spring (16)
J: Tyler Schiller 57.5kg
T: Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott |
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13th
13. Seagulls Eleven (3)
J: Tom Marquand 56.5kg
T: H Palmer |
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14th
2. Feroce (9)
J: Josh Parr 57.5kg
T: Dominic Sutton |
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15th
8. Lord Penman (15)
J: Joao Moreira 57.5kg
T: Chris Waller |
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16th
9. Mayfair (14)
J: Dylan Gibbons 57.5kg
T: Bjorn Baker |
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