A swag of Chris Waller’s established stars, headlined by glamour mare Autumn Glow, launched spring campaigns at Randwick on Monday morning.
Waller-trained Group 1 winners littered the first three trials, which were all conducted over 900 metres on the course proper after the trials planned for Friday were rescheduled due to wet weather.
Autumn Glow finished third behind runaway winner Napoleonic in the first trial, 10 minutes before fellow star mare Aeliana fourth in the trial won by stablemate Barnavara.
The trials were held more than a month before their projected return to the races, with Autumn Glow slated to resume in the $1 million Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) on August 22, and Waller said things will get more serious for today’s team in coming weeks.
“The Winx Stakes is about five weeks away, so we’ve still got a long way to go,” Waller said.
“They will only start to get tuned up after their second trial.
“It’s all about blowing the cobwebs out and making sure everything is good, keeping them mentally right, and being ahead of it.”
Autumn Glow’s was the first head to show out in her trial, before she was restrained by jockey James McDonald and settled second last, ahead of only stablemate Autumn Boy.
The daughter of The Autumn Sun stayed there until 200m from home, at which point she was allowed to improve despite little urging from McDonald to edge out stablemate Lady Shenandoah for third on the line.
McDonald was also aboard Aeliana who coasted to the line in a trial where horses held their positions for most of the workout.
She was beaten 4-1/4 lengths by Barnavara, whose only Australian start was a fourth placing in the Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m) when ridden by McDonald.
Kerrin McEvoy was aboard in Monday’s trial, but Waller said McDonald had done some work on him this preparation and his feedback had contributed to his excitement ahead of the French Group 1 winner’s return.
“She has put on about thirty kilos, so she looks like an Australian horse,” Waller said.
“James is rapt. He says she feels like a completely different horse. That’s exciting.”
The Waller-trained Wootton Verni finished runner-up in Trial 2, in which dual Oaks winner Ohope Wins was also engaged and finished just behind Aeliana.
McDonald was also aboard injury-plagued import Soulcombe, who surged to the line to finish third in the third trial, beaten less than a length by Screen Icon.
Soulcombe has battled tendon issues the past couple of seasons and hasn’t been to the races since his second placing to Without A Fight in the 2023 Melbourne Cup.
Waller will unleash more stars at Tuesday’s Warwick Farm trials, where Angel Capital, Beiwacht, Campione D’Italia and Fireball will have their first trials of the campaign in a 900m workout on the course proper.
