Earlier in the week, principal John Messara purchased a 50 per cent controlling interest in The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) who repaid his faith in spades with a sensational victory in Saturday’s Classic.
The Autumn Sun was caught three deep with no cover, but it mattered not and he strode clear with a degree of arrogance to pummel his rivals by a widening margin.
“You’ve just seen what he is capable of and I don’t think he’s matured yet.” - Chris Waller.
The Autumn Sun on his way to winning the Caulfield Guineas
Messara now races the glamour colt with the Hong Kong-based Hermitage Thoroughbreds, who secured the blueblood out of Arrowfield Stud’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale draft for$700,000 in 2017.
“You’ve just seen what he is capable of and I don’t think he’s matured yet,” trainer Chris Waller said. “I’ve had experience with some nice colts and he’s as good as they get.”
In the wake of The Autumn Sun’s effort, a clash with his champion barn-mate Winx (Street Cry {IRE}) was a natural question to pose to their handler.
“How can he beat Winx when he’s not fully mature?” was Waller’s response.
“I’ll speak to the owners, Hermitage and Mr Messara. It’s their call, not mine, they will have the final say.”
Wide run no issue
The Autumn Sun left the gates smartly, but rider James McDonald wasn’t able to get closer than three deep to the fence and with no cover.
He slipped the colt more rein into the straight and they forged relentlessly clear to win untested and McDonald high in the irons across the line with runner-up Vassilator (NZ) (Zacinto {GB}) chasing a memory.
“Good jockeys let horses be in their comfort zone and that just showed how good a colt he is,” Waller said. “He never turned a hair and it was just like he was going to a barrier trial.”
Connections of The Autumn Sun lead the colt in
McDonald admitted it may not have been the prettiest of rides aboard The Autumn Sun, but he stayed calm and let the 3-year-old do the rest .
“It went pear-shaped early, but Chris said to keep him in his rhythm and he’ll do the rest, he’s by far the best.” - James McDonald.
“It went pear-shaped early, but Chris said to keep him in his rhythm and he’ll do the rest, he’s by far the best,” he said.
“He relaxes well and he’s got all the right attributes to be one of the best in Australia. “I’m taking no credit, I was lucky enough to be on a superstar and he got the job done.
“He jumped well, too well, and he wanted to get on with it so I elected to sit out and he’s got an explosive turn of foot. He’s a very, very good horse.”
