Champion mare Winx is giving connections of The Autumn Sun headaches with a lack of suitable races throughout the Autumn.
Part-owner John Messara spoke on TABradio saying the Queen Elizabeth Stakes was an unlikely option for The Autumn Sun because of Winx.
“The feeling is, it’s too much to ask a young horse like him to take on the world’s best racehorse at his ninth start. It’s just a lot to ask,” Messara said.
“Chris’ (Waller) point is this horse has only had the eight starts in his whole life.”
“He says the mare is the world’s best racehorse at present, she’s at the peak of her form. She’s seven years of age, rising eight, she’s just so much more mature. He’s still developing, it’s almost unfair to ask him to take her on.”
The Autumn Sun is likely to have his next start in the Group One Rosehill Guineas although that will be based on how he pulls up from a tough Randwick Guineas win where he had to sustain a long sprint.
“He’s had a tough run yesterday. Whether we can back up in two weeks’ time and run in the Rosehill Guineas. That would be the normal pattern for three-year-olds.”
“If he can back-up in two weeks, then that’s the obvious race for him. But then where does that lead us to?
“We probably don’t want to run him in the Derby. We probably wouldn’t test him that far. The obvious next start would be the Queen Elizabeth, which is where the mare is going.
“An alternative to that is to run him in a month’s time, give him plenty of time to get over this and run him in the Doncaster. He’s not badly weighted in the Doncaster with 55kg.”
Messara said he and fellow connections will meet with Chris Waller over the coming days to map out a plan for the valuable colt saying the G1 Doncaster Mile is a very realistic chance based on his allocated weight and the fact Winx will not be racing.