The change of seasons is upon us and the $250,000 Group III Kembla Grange Classic (1600m) on Friday is usually won by an up and coming filly with Oaks aspirations and for Arrowfield Stud’s young sire The Autumn Sun it could prove a pivotal race.
The Champion 3YO Colt of his generation, The Autumn Sun fired up last weekend to sire Autumn Angel to win the Group II VRC Kewney Stakes and he has four acceptors for the Kembla Grange Classic and all are in with a chance.
Leading the way is Tutta La Vita, who acquitted herself well in stakes company last spring and resumed from a spell with an eye-catching third in the Group I ATC Surround Stakes.
Trained by Chris Waller, who also prepared her sire, Tutta La Vita has drawn wide, but her stablemate Seafall, another daughter of The Autumn Sun, has a much more favourable gate and charged to the line to break her maiden at Rosehill at just her third start.
Astute trainer Greg Hickman has always had faith in his The Autumn Sun filly Private Legacy and is probably astonished it has taken nine starts for her to break the maiden after some very good efforts in stakes races.
Some horses take a little longer to break the ice and then quickly rack up a string of wins and Private Legacy could easily be one of them.
The last contender for The Autumn Sun is Brad Widdup’s Colours of Autumn, who comes into this off a last start second in a very strong Benchmark race at Rosehill when she split Mare of Mt Buller (Dundeel) and Our Gold Hope (Lope de Vega), who are both engaged in this race and all three are winning hopes.
By champion sire Redoute’s Choice from a daughter of Galileo, The Autumn Sun was not bred for early speed and the emergence of some nice horses in the back end of the season is what breeders hope and expect to see so there will be plenty of eyes watching what unfolds at Kembla on Friday afternoon.
