Autumn Glow is a long odds-on favourite to continue her winning march in the Flight Stakes, and a rival trainer admits it might take the Chris Waller filly having an off day to bring about her first defeat.
John O’Shea and Tom Charlton will be represented in the Group 1 by Snow In May, who got closest to Autumn Glow last start when finishing second behind the star three-year-old in the Tea Rose Stakes (1400m).
However, Charlton is under no illusions about the task his charge faces to turn the tables in Saturday’s Flight Stakes (1600m) at Randwick.
“She is only lightly raced, she was excellent last start and she wasn’t far off her,” Charlton said.
“But whether the favourite has to have a chink in the armour for us to win remains to be seen.”
Like Autumn Glow, Snow In May is by exciting young stallion The Autumn Sun and had won her only two starts prior to her Tea Rose Stakes defeat.
She will spearhead a handy Epsom Handicap day team for the training partners as one of three stakes runners for the stable, along with Athabascan in the Group 1 Metropolitan (2400m) and the in-form Interjection in the Listed Dulcify Stakes (1600m).
Athabascan is a Listed winner over the Metropolitan course and distance and finished runner-up in the Sydney Cup (3200m) during the autumn.
Finishing less than three lengths from Buckaroo first-up in the Chelmsford Stakes (1600m), he was midfield in the Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) last start, but Charlton believed the run was better than it appeared on paper.
“I don’t think he did anything wrong, it was a very weird race,” Charlton said.
“They went slow and quickened from the 1000 metres and just drained the race out of him, but he was actually sub-34 (seconds) home, so from a genuine mile-and-a-half, two-mile horse, there’s not much more he can do than that.
“It just looked a bit plain on viewing, but I’d say that different circumstances and third-up, he can bounce back. Take him on trust but he’s going really well.”
Along with their black-type runners, O’Shea and Charlton will also have Fall For Cindy and Rhythm Of Love in the TAB Handicap (1200m) and Café Millenium and Benaud in the Alinta Energy Handicap (1600m)
Stayer Benaud hasn’t raced for almost 12 months and while he will improve on whatever he does at Randwick, connections are hoping he can progress to better races with the Craven Plate (1800m) and Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m) both on his radar.