Autumn Glow glorious in G1 Champions Mile

Autumn Glow, the darling of Australian racing, has triumphed in the $3 million VRC Champions Mile 1600m G1 at fabulous Flemington on the final day of a brilliant Cup Week, leading home her high-class stablemates Lindermann & Buckaroo to land her 6th Group 1 victory for Arrowfield & Hermitage Thoroughbreds and the champion Chris Waller stable.

It’s a milestone success for James McDonald, now the first jockey to win every Group 1 race in Melbourne Cup Week, and remarkably, it’s the third Flemington Group 1 victory in 8 days for Hermitage, after Stormy Marco’s Victoria Derby and Lady Shenandoah’s Empire Rose Stakes. 

The post-race Stewards’ report that Autumn Glow was found to be lame in the off-foreleg only enhanced the quality of her victory, achieved at her first try on a left-hand track, her first trip outside Sydney and her first appearance before a large, warmly appreciative Melbourne crowd. Chris Waller added that the mare was showing signs of bruising to her left-fore hoof.

She’s simply the best! 😍 Autumn Glow shines in the G1 VRC Champions Mile! ⭐️ @cwallerracing @mcacajamez @ArrowfieldStud @FlemingtonVRC https://t.co/3zERHJL7eU

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 7, 2026

McDonald said, “She was a little bit lost, at sea a bit, and even when we straightened and I gave her a click, she took about 50 metres to get going. But once she opened the shoulders up, she was never going to get rolled. She’s just a brilliant specimen, a pleasure to ride, she’s just so, so special.”

He added, “Now that she’s had this run here, it’s very foreign to her, but you look up at the Flemington straight, the roses, the people, she knew she was somewhere different and she was a little slow to balance and quicken up, but she’s a champion.

“Champions make their own luck in this game and she just plants herself on speed and away she goes. She’s an absolute pleasure to ride. A jockey’s dream.”

Arrowfield’s John Messara said, “We’re so pleased she was able to win at Flemington, that was a box we really wanted her to tick.

“Arrowfield obviously stands The Autumn Sun, which raced in the Hermitage colours and I rang them one day and said ‘I’m going to buy a filly at Inglis Easter that I like very much…and if we can manage this filly in the right way, she might be really good for our stallion’ and straight away they said they’d come in 50/50 with us. It’s been quite the journey since.’’

Indeed it has! Autumn Glow’s success caps an unforgettable Spring for Arrowfield, and for The Autumn Sun, also represented by Melbourne Group winners Changing Colours, Surfin’ Bird and The Roaring Sun, Listed winner Matusalem, Autumn Boy (2nd, Makybe Diva S. G1) and Plymouth, third in Saturday’s $2 million Five Diamonds G3 in Sydney.

Snitzel (1st), The Autumn Sun (3rd) and Maurice (4th) end Melbourne Cup Week among Australia’s leading sires so far this season, with collective prizemoney of more than $31 million and 16 winners of 26 stakes races.