Craig Kerry
Ciaron Maher expects Chris Waller-trained superstar Autumn Glow to handle the pressure his front-running wonder Pride Of Jenni brings on Saturday when they clash in the $5 million King Charles III Stakes (1600m).
But he says you can never be sure when a horse meets Jenni for the first time.
The switch of Pride Of Jenni to race at Randwick, the scene of her amazing breakaway win in the 2024 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m), has built the mile feature into arguably the race of the Everest program, overshadowing the $20 million showpiece expected to be dominated by defending champion Ka Ying Rising ($1.50 favourite).
Autumn Glow is a $1.45 favourite in the King Charles to score a 14th win in 15 starts, with her only loss coming when being tested beyond 1600m in this year’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The five-year-old faces another challenge on Saturday when taking on Maher’s nine-year-old Pride Of Jenni, which has become a cult figure with her runaway, heart-breaking style up front.
Waller said he has put more slow, stamina-building work into Autumn Glow in preparation for the test.
“Pride Of Jenni is a fantastic horse, and a great horse for so many years, so we won’t be letting her out of our sights,” said Waller, who has Angel Capital and Joliestar in the Everest.
“Then it’s up to [jockey] James [McDonald] to determine how far away he lets her get, and what horses are behind Autumn Glow, if there are horses behind her, and summing the situation up.
“The beauty of the race, it’ll only be a smallish field [of six], so that means you can’t get separated too much, and we can keep her in our sights. We’re confident that we can be fighting out the finish and hopefully winning.
“She’s had some good tests. She won the Golden Eagle last year against a big field. She’s won races with wide draws. She’s taken on good horses before, and she’s beaten these types of horses before. It’s the pressure of the race, I guess, that you can’t quantify. How fast they’re going to run. Are they going to run a track record? Things like that. So they’re the unknowns, but she’s certainly beaten some good horses before.”
Waller and Maher are both wary of fast-finishing, Joe Pride-trained Ceolwulf, which is shooting for a third consecutive win in the race and is coming off an impressive second carrying topweight in the Epsom Handicap. Maher said the unknown was how Autumn Glow would cope.
“Ceolwulf has raced Jenni and he absorbs that pressure and probably enjoys racing her and it plays into his hands,” said Maher, who has Tempted and Jimmysstar in the Everest.
“Autumn Glow is the class horse of the race, but the unknown is when they haven’t raced her. Some horses just don’t like it at all. There’s been many horses in the past that you would think would beat her, but she just takes them out of their comfort zone and they just don’t enjoy it.
“Autumn Glow seems to be one out of the box. She’s pretty special, so you would think a stronger-run race, she would be able to absorb that. If any horse can, she would be able to, but there’s still that unknown. But Ceolwulf, he’s going to enjoy that.”