From Randwick: The comparisons to Winx were always going to come. They are as inevitable as the short prices and the pre-race debates about where an unbeaten champion should go next. But Chris Waller, the trainer at the centre of it all, says he genuinely does not feel the pressure that outsiders assume must be crushing him.
His secret, it turns out, is simple: too many good horses, not enough time to dwell.
Autumn Glow, the four-year-old mare who has yet to taste defeat, lines up at Royal Randwick on Saturday in the Group 1 Verry Elleegant Stakes over 1600 metres, formerly known as the Chipping Norton Stakes. A win would take her record to a perfect ten, deepening a streak that has already drawn inevitable parallels with the great Winx, who claimed the first of four Chipping Norton titles at the start of her legendary 33-race winning run.
Waller, Sydney's premier trainer, enters Saturday with seven of the nine runners in the Verry Elleegant Stakes, a fact that alone speaks to the extraordinary depth of his operation. Autumn Glow is the jewel among them, sent out at $1.30 by punters who have seen quite enough to make up their minds. The resuming dual Group 1 winner Sir Delius heads what little opposition there is on paper.
Two weeks ago, Autumn Glow made her weight-for-age debut in the Apollo Stakes over 1400 metres. She won by two and three-quarter lengths with jockey James McDonald barely moving in the saddle, the effort drawing gasps as much for its ease as its margin. She has drawn barrier three on Saturday, and any concerns about a potentially wet track were put to rest by her Golden Eagle victory on a soft 7.
Waller was characteristically understated about the Apollo performance. "It was good," he said. "I haven't gone into it too much. I choose not to, just to keep things simple." He described a measured preparation since: three days at the Hermitage farm after the race, a quiet gallop the following Saturday, a stronger hit-out on Tuesday, then straight to the races.
What strikes you in listening to Waller is the deliberate calm of a man who has been here before and knows that anxiety serves no horse. He is already thinking past Saturday to the George Ryder Stakes, with the Doncaster, Queen of the Turf and Queen Elizabeth all under consideration beyond that.
On the Winx comparisons, he is measured rather than dismissive. "Winx won a Queen Elizabeth and we won the Oaks and the Sydney Cup," he said. "You are putting a saddle on Autumn Glow, but three races before that, two weeks ago, we were saddling up Joliestar, Lady Shenandoah, so it just suits me. It doesn't help me to overthink things."
The names tumble out of him with genuine enthusiasm: Aeliana, Lindermann, Trinity College, Wootton Verni, Soul Of Spain. Each a project, each a puzzle to solve. "To get them to those targets, and in some ways, it's good. It just takes away the distraction," he said.
Saturday's card at Randwick offers Waller several other threads to follow. In the Group 1 Surround Stakes over 1400 metres, he runs Karinska and Panova, both building toward likely targets in the Coolmore Classic and Vinery Stud Stakes respectively. His most intriguing runner of the day, though, may be Central Europe, a $750,000 Frankel colt making his debut in the Group 2 Skyline Stakes. The youngster eased from $15 to $8.50 in TAB markets for the Golden Slipper off the back of three trials, drawing genuine attention from the market despite stepping into elite juvenile company for the first time.
Waller reached for a rugby analogy. "He's been playing schoolboy rugby and doing pretty well, and he's playing NRL on Saturday," he said. "It's just that time of the year, there's no other way of doing it. He's thrown in the deep end."
Also pointing toward the Golden Slipper are Campione D'Italia and Fireball, the recent Inglis Millennium winner. Waller flagged that Campione D'Italia would get a break after Saturday if he failed to show his best at the races, noting the horse had been impressive at home but needed to translate that on race day. Of Fireball, he was careful to frame Saturday as a step in a longer journey rather than a defining moment.
Autumn Glow, of course, is the story that will dominate the Randwick conversation. Whether she is the next Winx, or simply a brilliant horse in her own right, is a question that racing will answer at its own pace. Racing Australia records suggest very few horses have won ten straight at the top level; fewer still have done it with the margin and authority this mare has shown.
The honest assessment is that these comparisons, while natural, may do a disservice to both horses. Winx rewrote what Australian racing thought possible over four extraordinary years. Autumn Glow is only beginning to write her own story. They share a trainer, a track, and a habit of winning. Beyond that, the rest is still being written, one perfect performance at a time.