The one thing Autumn Glow has never done before Champions Day

There is not a great deal more for Autumn Glow to prove on the track but the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival will present a new scene for the barnstorming mare.

Through her thrilling 15-start career, Chris Waller’s latest champion has done all of her racing in the clockwise direction.

Or, as we say, ‘the Sydney way’.

Not only will Autumn Glow run for the first time outside of Sydney, the five-year-old takes on ‘the Melbourne way’ when she lines up in the Group 1 Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington.

“It is her first time in Victoria but she has done a lot of work left-handed in Sydney,” Waller said.

“She had a gallop at Flemington on Tuesday morning with James McDonald aboard and he said she got on the right legs at the right time and felt great.

“She pulled up very clean in her wind and with this the final run in her prep I hope she runs well.”

With plans to head to Royal Ascot in 2027 shelved, concentration lies solely at home and as carefully planned as Waller can be, the ‘something new’ here is as much a case of wait and see with this mare as it is with any other horse.

“You never really know until under race pressure,” Waller said.

“But she is such a professional and everything she does seems to be professional. If she was a person, she takes everything very seriously.

“When game day is on, she is in the zone. Even in her trackwork. She’s quite remarkable.”

The added benefit for the mare this time is the similarities to her familiar scenes like Randwick.

“I think it is very forgiving, Flemington,” Waller added.

“It is a natural place for horses to race. They get on the left leg on the bend and they change to the right leg in the straight.

“It is a very natural way and Sydney horses tend to adjust well to Flemington better than any other track.”