Champions Mile Review 2026: What The Jockeys Said

Autumn Glow and James McDonald made it 15 wins from 16 starts in the Group 1 VRC Champions Mile (1600m) at Flemington for Chris Waller, beating stablemate Lindermann by a length and a quarter with Buckaroo third for a Waller trifecta. Here’s what the jockeys said.

It is always important to hear what the jockeys say after the race, as you can forgive a horse’s bad run or even find a winner next start, so head to the post-race comments below.

EL SOLEADO (Blake Shinn) – 8th

He gave his best.

POUNDING (Luke Nolen) – 7th

He was sound at weight-for-age but there are easier races for him.

WITHIN THE LAW (Rachel King) – 6th

Really brave effort, obviously up against the big guys today, but proud of how she hit the line.

SEPALS (Ethan Brown) – 5th

He tried his best but the mile probably saw him out today.

TOM KITTEN (Mark Zahra) – 4th

When they sprinted he just lacked a bit of turn of foot but was coming again on the line.

BUCKAROO (Ben Melham) – 3rd

Terrific run. His sectionals would have been pretty good. We had a beautiful run throughout and I thought he savaged the line well.

LINDERMANN (Damian Lane) – 2nd

Great run. He’s just a warrior, just a gentleman, he’s lovely to ride. He made her really stretch, he fought hard as he always does and couldn’t ask much more of him.

AUTUMN GLOW (James McDonald) – 1st

He’s so dangerous that horse because he’s got a beautiful high cruising speed. When Damian let the shackles go at the 600 (metres), just her, who hadn’t had a run here left-handed, she was a little bit lost, at sea a bit, and even when we straightened and I gave her a click, she took about 50 metres to get going, but once she opened the shoulders up, she was never going to get rolled. She’s just a brilliant specimen, a pleasure to ride, she’s just so, so special.

He (Lindermann) was really good, but he’s been well seasoned. He’s a tough campaigner. He’s such a good horse too. So he had her stretched a little bit from from the 800 onwards, but she’s just in cruise control. She was a little bit at sea, but now it was her first time left-handed in terms of under-race pressure. It wasn’t until the last 100 metres that she started to work it all out.

I think so. Now that she’s had this run here, it’s very foreign to her, but you look up at the Flemington straight, the roses, the people, she knew she was somewhere different and she was a little slow to balance and quicken up, but she’s a champion. Champions make their own luck in this game and she just plants herself on speed and away she goes.

Obviously there’s great expectation. She’s the people’s horse now. She’s got an incredible resume, incredible record. She’s an absolute pleasure to ride, a jockey’s dream.

I forgot that. I’m blessed to ride really good horses for great owners, great trainers. We’re very lucky. You have to savoir it, because you don’t know when the next one is around the corner.

View Our Flemington Tips For Saturday Here

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