Could unbeaten super mare Autumn Glow follow Winx’s path and take on Doncaster in April?
Autumn Glow took the next step up the ladder when she treated the older horses with contempt in Saturday’s Apollo Stakes, and 10 years on, she sits exactly where Winx did in terms of Racing NSW rating.
Chris Waller is a trainer of habit and often repeats winning structures. Winx went Apollo, the then Chipping Norton Stakes, George Ryder Stakes before winning the Doncaster when she was a four-year-old.
The Doncaster decision comes down to weight.
Winx only had 56.5kg in Doncaster, and Autumn Glow’s rating will be crucial if she is to run in Australia’s most famous mile.
Winx was not the superstar we remember in 2016. She was an emerging star with six wins on end.
She carried a 116 mark into the Apollo Stakes, which stayed the same into the Chipping Norton Stakes, where she was lifted to 118 and then 120 post the George Ryder win.
Autumn Glow raced off 116 in Apollo, so if the handicapper is consistent, she will not be put her beyond Winx going into the now Verry Elleegant Stakes.
That would make the $4 million Doncaster very tempting, and a place in history alongside Winx, Chatham, Gunsynd and Super Impose as an Epsom-Doncaster winner a real possibility.
Given Gringotts is top-rated at 121 in the Doncaster entries, if he was handed 59kg, when weights are released at the end of the month, Autumn Glow would get around 55kg.
It would an invitation to chase the $4 million purse.
The comparison with the modern-day standard banner Winx are hard to avoid for Autumn Glow, but she is a different beast.
By this time, Winx had won a Queensland Oaks at 2200m and a Cox Plate at 2040m, Autumn Glow hasn’t been past the mile of her Epsom victory.
Is she a sprinter-miler or will her brilliance extend to 2000m?
James McDonald got off her on the weekend and told owner John Messara – “I wish I could tell you, but I don’t have any idea how good she is.”
Waller rarely tested Winx at 2000m in the autumn, preferring to stay to the mile, only ending preparations in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes three times.
The benefit of racing is that the Winx name resonates in Australian sport.
Even non-sporting fans know her name and the story of an unbeaten mare trying to emulate Winx would draw attention back to our sport.
Messara was glowing after victory nine on Saturday for Autumn Glow in what had been a tough week with the loss of his best horse, Miss Finland.
“To have her [Autumn Glow] to look forward to, made it easier,” Messara said. “She delivered and it is exciting what is ahead.
“We haven’t look beyond this preparation in our planning but Royal Ascot is there in our thinking.
“She is very special, and we want to get it right with her.”
Asked if she was alongside Miss Finland yet, who was put down on Friday, Messara paused.
“Miss Finland won a Golden Slipper and then VRC Oaks in the same year. She was the best two-year-old beat the best stayers of her year that’s amazing,” Messara said. “I don’t know if even Autumn Glow could have done that.
“She is on the way, but Miss Finland did it on the track and produced a Group 1 winner in Stay With Me as a mum.
“But as one dies, another one rises.”
MAKE THAT NINE 🌟
The wonder mare Autumn Glow returns with a bang! She remains unbeaten and leads home a Waller trifecta in the G2 Apollo 🥇🥈🥉@mcacajamez @cwallerracing pic.twitter.com/viFA7tXeTL
— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) February 14, 2026
Hot to trot
Harness Racing has always been the poor relation to the thoroughbreds, but the sport is in the middle of Golden era and doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
All-time great Leap To Fame has been at the top of the sulky mob for a number of years, but he is not unbeatable. However he always brave.
The best race everywhere on Saturday was the Hunter Cup.
Swayzee, Leap To Fame’s half-brother, held the champ off in a battle that showed the great qualities of the standardbred and racing in general.
It was a pity the race didn’t make the mainstream but is where racing in general is.
Cam Hart got every bit of energy out of the front-running Swayzee for a second win in the harness racing’s Cox Plate, on his way to five wins from five drives at Melton.
Then there was trotter Keayang Zahara, who is the best in the world. A winner of 25 of her 26 starts after she took a $500,000 winning the Great Southern Star. Hopefully they take on the world next year.
The trots have their problems as well with state rivalry. Captain’s Knock was not at Melton, connections smartly choosing to win the Murray Cup at Albury.
It earned him a $500,000 bonus in the Harness Racing NSW carnival of cups and the chance for $1 million in the Renshaw Cup at Penrith next month.
Swayzee becomes the first back-to-back Group 1 A.G. Hunter Cup winner since Blossom Lady in 1994-95, holding on in a thriller at Melton tonight for trainer Jason Grimson and driver Cam Hart. pic.twitter.com/XPGR0K7OJV
— The Trots (@TheTrotsComAu) February 14, 2026
NSW sideshow has its days in court
The sideshow of NSW Racing again found a way into a courtroom last week, but the main event will be on Thursday and Friday.
The Australian Turf Club had caught a few staff stealing booze, and it had Racing NSW rushing back to the Supreme Court to find out more.
“Is this a regulator of horse racing, or is this a regulator of catering, including bars?” ATC lawyer Scott Robertson SC posed to court.
“We say you’re not the regulator for the catering business. You’re not entitled to ask us about catering or non-event management.”
Michael Henry SC retorted for Racing NSW, that they needed “to understand the length and breadth of it and who’s done what”.
Justice Francois Kunc, who will decide if Racing NSW’s appointment of an administrator was fair, was far from impressed.
“I have enough on my plate as it is, whether it comes from the turf club kitchen or not,” he said.
The ill-will between the two parties since Racing NSW sought to put an administrator in at the ATC has only escalated since the club’s legal action began.
Get the popcorn out for the hearing starting Thursday and expect some of rugby league’s and Sydney media’s biggest names to get a mention.
Championships tickets, for a cause
If you want to, hopefully, see Autumn Glow in the Doncaster on the first day of The Championship in luxury, there are four ballroom tickets available.
Sky’s Ben Walker tweeted on Sunday that the tickets, which were donated by Racing NSW for a fundraiser at Gilgandra for local Jess Tink, were available because the buyer could not attend.
They are hoping to recoup $3200 for the four tickets in the Grand Ballroom, including drinks, and accommodation at The Star.
Can ride, can’t drive
The jockeys’ car park at Canterbury boasted a boat on Friday night The mail is the apprentice who arrived with it in tow struggled with the roundabout. “He would have faced the stewards if rode like he drove,” our spy said.
