The Autumn Sun bidding to end lucrative season on a high
Sneaky Sunrise and Know Thyself aiming to add more stakes glory to Arrowfield’s in-form stallion’s burgeoning CV
Arrowfield Stud’s boom stallion The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) gets the chance to enhance his growing reputation when two of his more promising progeny line up in stakes races on Saturday afternoon.
Having enjoyed a breakthrough season with Autumn Angel, Coco Sun and Vibrant Sun having triumphed in the Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m), South Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) and Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) respectively, The Autumn Sun will look to close out a superb term on a high note if his two-year-old filly Sneaky Sunrise or three-year-old Know Thyself can add further black type to their sire’s CV.
Sneaky Sunrise, trained by the Lindsay Park brothers Ben, Will and JD Hayes, is aiming to complete a hat-trick of wins on her home track when she steps up to the mile for the first time in her career in today’s Taj Rossi Series Final (Listed, 1600m) at Flemington.
Having broken through with an eye-catching win in mid-May, Sneaky Sunrise returned to Flemington a fortnight ago and promptly saluted again as the $3.60 favourite.
She therefore brings impeccable form lines into the race although the widest alley (10) makes life tricky for her rider Daniel Stackhouse, who has been in the saddle for all four career starts to date. However, Ben Hayes’ confidence hasn’t been dented by the unkind draw and, despite bookmakers favouring Godolphin’s last-start runner-up Pisces (Frosted) to turn the tables on Saturday, he is expecting Sneaky Sunrise to relish the extra distance.
“She’s been crying out for the mile so we’re excited to see what she can produce,” said Hayes, who also has a big opinion of the stable’s only other horse sired by The Autumn Sun, an unraced two-year-old colt set to trial again in the coming weeks.
“She’s got a great chance despite the tricky draw, but she was able to win from barrier eight last time. You also don’t get too many hard-luck stories at Flemington, so we’re not overly concerned and hopefully she can sign off with another win before she heads for a freshen-up.
“We always had this race in mind for her. We had considered sending her to Queensland to run in the J.J. Atkins but the way Broadsiding ran in that race, we probably dodged a bullet so it was a good decision in hindsight.
“Hopefully we have pulled the right rein and can get some black type on her page on Saturday, which would potentially make her a valuable broodmare prospect.”
According to Hayes, Sneaky Sunrise – a $180,000 joint purchase by Lindsay Park and the MyRacehorse syndicate at the 2023 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale – bears all the hallmarks of her famous father, who will stand the imminent breeding season at Arrowfield for $66,000 (inc GST).
“She really looks like her Dad, she’s very strong and well put together and has got a bit of length about her,” said Hayes.
“The way The Autumn Sun has been performing recently, with his fillies winning some big races, it gives us a lot of confidence with this girl heading into the spring. We haven’t decided which path we take with her, in the old days you didn’t have to decide between the Thousand Guineas and the Oaks because you could potentially prepare fillies for both. Now that the Guineas has been moved to the back end of the carnival, it makes things a little trickier but we’ll let her tell us and we’ll know more after Saturday’s race.”
Less than two hours after the Taj Rossi Series Final, Arrowfield could be celebrating again when Know Thyself bids to improve an already impressive race record in the Winx Guineas (Gr 3, 1600m) at the Sunshine Coast.
A winner of three of his four career starts for the Scone-based training team of Paul Messara and Leah Gavranich, Know Thyself is being widely tipped to add a first stakes success to his resume under Group 1-winning jockey Rachel King, who returns to riding duties for the first time since her wedding.
Taken by his five-length win at Rosehill on June 15, punters have been keen to latch onto the chances of Know Thyself particularly as he has already proved adept on a heavy surface, which the runners are highly likely to encounter at Caloundra this afternoon.
Messara combines his training duties with his role as general manager at his father John’s fabled stud farm in the Hunter Valley. But if he feels under pressure to produce another stakes winner for one of the country’s most precocious young stallions, Messara isn’t showing it.
“If anything it’s a bonus that he’s by The Autumn Sun, because it gives us a great opportunity to showcase what an exciting stallion he is,” said Messara.
“This is his first crop and they’re a very reliable breed. We’ve seen that his progeny have got plenty of natural stamina and endurance, and Know Thyself has clearly got a big engine so we’re very confident that he will get the mile on Saturday and perhaps we look to step him up further in distance when we bring him back in the spring.
“We’ll have a clearer picture of where we stand with him after Saturday, he’s going to have to make an improvement to win this race because it’s comfortably the hardest test of his career to date. But we’ve held a high opinion of him from the start and everything he’s done so far he’s taken in his stride, so hopefully that can continue.
“He travelled up and has settled in well at the Sunshine Coast, so we’re really happy with him. There’s obviously been a fair bit of rain around and that looks set to continue on race day, but he proved he can handle a heavy surface at his last start, which is always a positive. Going into a big race on a heavy track can be a minefield, but now that he’s been there and done it before it’s a relief and gives us plenty of confidence.”
Messara and Gavranich currently have six of The Autumn Sun’s progeny in work – including an unraced two-year-old colt who is shaping up as a potential Derby contender in the spring – with the sister to Know Thyself also about to enter their stable after she was purchased by Andrew Williams Bloodstock for $280,000 at the 2024 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
They all share their sire’s attributes but Know Thyself is also heavily influenced by his dam, Mantra Of Life (Dubawi), who produced Yulong’s promising filly Mind Shift (Written Tycoon).
“Know Thyself has definitely got a bit of Dubawi about him with his shape and structure, so he’s probably a blend of his sire and his dam,” said Messara.
“He’s certainly got many of his father’s attributes and, like The Autumn Sun, he’s genuine and is very much a push-button horse. He’s very responsive to the rider and he puts in every time you take him to the races, which is all you can ask of any horse regardless of their ability. And from what we’ve seen so far, he’s got plenty of ability.”