The world’s best jockey James McDonald believes he has found the next Via Sistina, and it’s the reason he will miss Derby day to be on a couple of budding superstars at Randwick on Saturday.
The unbeaten Autumn Glow and Lady Shenandoah packed the one-two punch to have McDonald in Sydney, but also had him turning clairvoyant.
“You don’t have to be too smart to think Autumn Glow is pretty special – she is a $2 favourite for a Golden Eagle for a reason,” McDonald said. “Lady Shenandoah isn’t far behind her.”
“I love everything about Derby day, but the chance to be on two budding superstar fillies made it an easy decision [to be in Sydney].”
“I think they are the next Via Sistina and Fangirl, they will step up in the next couple of years.”
“Via and Fangirl are seven and eight [years old], so they are near the end. They have done a fabulous job, but these two are extra special.”
“I think they can win seven or eight Group 1s each, they are that good.”
“Chris [Waller] is going to have a lot of fun with them. You can see a twinkle in his eye when we talk about them.”
”We know there is a lot more to come from them. They are only getting better.”
There won’t be the Group 1 prestige on offer on Saturday, but a major share of $10 million has Autumn Glow in the Golden Eagle, while Lady Shenandoah runs for the $3 million plus bonuses in the Russell Balding Stakes.
McDonald missed Autumn Glow’s first Group 1 victory in the Epsom to ride Via Sistina in the Turnbull, but he made it clear why he had to be in Sydney.
“She is so smooth to ride, it’s like being in a Rolls-Royce,” McDonald said. “There’s always another gear.”
“The thing about these four-year-old mares are only at the beginning, that’s why we call them fillies because they are still developing.”
“At this point in their lives, they are so poorly weighted, but both these fillies are doing it against the older horses.”
“Autumn Glow won the Epsom with effectively the biggest weight carried by a four-year-old and did it so well.”
“The middle draw [of barrier nine] suits me on the weekend and I can’t wait to get out there on her.”
Lady Shenandoah, who already has a Flight Stakes and Surround Stakes on her Group 1 resume, will be given another chance against several of her Everest rivals over 1300m in the Russell Balding, a trip that McDonald thinks will ultimately be her best.”
“She is a really fast seven-furlong [1400m] horse,” McDonald said. “She is only going to get stronger, but she is right up with them now. I think she can make statement on the weekend, the way she has worked since the Everest.”
McDonald has had a hectic week since winning the Cox Plate on Via Sistina.
He returned home to fly south and ride trackwork at Flemington on Tuesday, before coming home to ride at Rosehill on Wednesday. He is back to Melbourne on Thursday to gallop his Melbourne Cup ride Meydaan.
