Five things you need to know about The Autumn Sun

As the first 30 sale yearlings by The Autumn Sun prepare for Magic Millions 2022, Arrowfield’s Bloodstock Manager Jon Freyer highlights five things buyers really need to remember about the Champion 3YO Colt and 5-time Group 1 winner:

1. He is the last masterpiece by Redoute’s Choice.

“It may seem hard to believe, when we’ve stood Not A Single Doubt, and Snitzel heads our current roster, but we’ve always been confident we’d find at least one more great sire son of Redoute’s Choice.

“Beneteau was on track for major success before his premature death in 2013, Pariah is poised to fill the gap left by Not A Single Doubt and The Autumn Sun is receiving every opportunity to seal the Redoute’s Choice legend with a flourish.”

2. He is the result of an inspired breeding venture between the Aga Khan Studs & Arrowfield.

“When that partnership was launched in 2008, the ultimate goal was to harness the genetic magic of the Aga Khan’s breeding program to Arrowfield’s stallion power and breed a ‘next-level’ kind of horse.

“It took 7 years and the mating of the young, unraced mare Azmiyna with the 18 year-old Redoute’s Choice to create The Autumn Sun, but he well and truly exceeded the brief, as an expression of everything in a nuclear-powered pedigree.”

3. He was fast – seriously fast.

“He won two ~750-metre trials before winning his 2YO debut over 1200 metres at Randwick in class record time of 1:08.61, defeating a subsequent Group winner. That was the fastest time ever for a 2YO at Randwick.

“He equalled the race record of 1:33.72 in the Randwick Guineas, breaking 34 seconds for the last 600 metres of that race and posting 33.56 in the 1400-metre Golden Rose.

“The Autumn Sun was devastatingly quick and showed it in every start.”

4. Winning was never optional for The Autumn Sun

“One of the most under-rated characteristics when assessing stallion prospects is their will to win. It can be difficult to quantify, but a reasonable measure is surely winning strike rate.

“The Autumn Sun won 8 of his 9 starts on fast and heavy tracks, from bad barriers, first up, second up and from 1200 to 2000 metres. He won 5 times at Group 1 level. When he was three wide no cover on a hot speed in the Caulfield Guineas he won by almost 5 lengths. When he was 10 lengths off them straightening in a messy Randwick Guineas with a tearaway leader he still got there – in record time. When he had to slog it out in a bog in the Rosehill Guineas he refused to concede.

“There are plenty of horses at stud who snared a single Group 1, but for whom winning was optional, and the same goes for their progeny. For The Autumn Sun, tenacity and courage were the hallmarks of his character. He was a winner. It was the same for his sire Redoute’s Choice and his grandsire Galileo.

“Talent is one thing but combine that with an insatiable will to win and you have something quite potent. And prepotent.”

5. The Autumn Sun’s first yearlings display his physique, athleticism, quality & temperament.

“To get an idea of what The Autumn Sun is imparting, start with a couple of his 11 yearlings in Arrowfield’s Magic Millions draft.

“Lot 126, the I Am Queen colt is a cracker, with a good shoulder and forearm, and he stands over ground like The Autumn Sun as a young horse.

“Lot 849, the Champagne Run filly is a precocious, muscular type that looks fast and has always had quality – very easy to see her contesting the 2023 Magic Millions 2YO Classic. Plus she’s had a recent pedigree update, thanks to her three-quarter sister, Flemington Group 3 winner Flying Evelyn.”