Sir Delius wins as Autumn Glow finishes third at Randwick
Craig Kerry
Trainer Adrian Bott had his sights set on an overdue shot at the Cox Plate (2040m) with Sir Delius after the rich import ended Autumn Glow’s perfect record and his hopes of heading into the spring Victorian feature seemingly with victory in the $5 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
Autumn Glow was the star attraction at Randwick on Saturday as the Chris Waller-trained four-year-old looked to extend her winning streak to 12 and prove she could still dominate by going beyond the mile for the first time.
Autumn Glow started a $1.30 favorite but was tested led by Light Infantry Man and Sir Delius set off in the back straight under Craig Williams, leaving the star filly midfield unprotected.
Williams went on and took the lead at 350 meters and Autumn Glow was unable to go with her and finished third 2½ furlongs away. His Waller-trained stablemate Lindermann was expected to lead but was in last place before coming home for second by 2¼ lengths. Nash Rawiller was suspended for a week from 19 April for excessive use of the whip, in which he hit Lindermann 10 times before the 100 metres.
Ending Autumn Glow’s run, Sir Delius has made a stunning comeback after being eliminated from the Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup last year after failing in the Racing Victoria sweeps.
Sir Delius, who secured a record $2.7 million buy for Bott, legendary assistant trainer Gai Waterhouse and supporters at the Tattersalls Autumn Training Horse Sale in England in October 2024, won two group 1s in Melbourne before the controversial call-up.
Bott was confident Sir Delius could move up to third for Queen Elizabeth but admitted he was second-guessing the preparation after third-place finishes in the Verry Elleegant and Ranvet Stakes. Waterhouse had declared Sir Delius Australia’s best weight-for-age horse at 2000 metres.
“It’s great to see him get back to his rightful place because he’s so talented,” Bott said.
“Secondly, I was thinking about whether we used it correctly in the first few runs and then it didn’t go as far as we needed it to, but you know, everything is satisfactory at the moment.
“That’s the important thing. Obviously the early stages of preparation were tough, there was a bit of an expectation of what he could achieve in the spring. But we stayed focused and that was the goal we really wanted to achieve. Today was the right setup and Craig executed it perfectly.”
“I’m so happy for all the owners involved and the team that made this possible.”
Bott said the Cox Plate would now be the target but was unsure whether Sir Delius would continue with the Melbourne Cup. He said Saturday’s win was “right up there” with his biggest since joining Waterhouse in 2016. The duo won two Golden Slippers together.
“We’re moving forward, you have to look at the goals in front of you,” he said of the decision made last spring.
“I’m very happy that he was able to return to the top level. He performed really well and I’m looking forward to the spring again.”
Previously, Waller and top jockey James McDonald combined with Ohope Wins to claim the $1 million Australian Oaks (2400m).
Ohope Wins finished second last and stormed home to become the fourth filly to win the New Zealand-Australian Oaks double, beating Profoundly by a long neck.
Waller wasn’t sure what her spring goals would be for the filly owned by Yulong.
“We’re still learning about him, and as you see with our horses, winning the Oaks might not mean much in the spring,” Waller said.
“All we know is that we have an elite level horse and now our job is to train him like an Australian and see how much speed he has.
“He’ll tell us how he came back in the first few runs and we’ll see where he fits.
“We were going back to simple things like how he raced in New Zealand. Some of his runs your heart is in your mouth and it was similar today.”
Williams completed the double in the final race, the group 2 Sapphire Stakes, by winning trainer Joe Pride’s In Flight.
