Pride Of Jenni is heading to Sydney for the $5 million King Charles III Stakes on Everest Day, setting up a long-awaited Group 1 clash with reigning Australian Horse of the Year Autumn Glow at Royal Randwick on Saturday 17 October.
Trainer Ciaron Maher and owner Tony Ottobre have announced the four-time Group 1 winner will contest the 1600m race, Racenet reported. It will be the nine-year-old mare’s third crack at the King Charles, after she ran second to Ceolwulf in 2024 and seventh behind the same horse last year.
A change of heart
The decision is a turnaround from the days after her Feehan Stakes win, when Ottobre played down another trip north. “The Sydneysiders have belted us twice, I don’t think I’d want to go up there again,” he told SENTrack and RSN’s Giddy Up, before adding: “Like I said, it’s all Ciaron’s call.”
At the time, SEN said the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington on 31 October, a race she has won twice, could be her next target.
Still near her best at nine
Pride Of Jenni showed she has lost little when she rolled to the front and won the Group 2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) at Caulfield on 27 September, her third straight win in the race. She beat Treasurethe Moment by a length and a half, and AAP reported it was her 14th win from 49 starts, taking her prizemoney past $12.8 million.
“I didn’t even go for the whip in the end. I could feel her,” regular rider Declan Bates said after the win, according to Racenet.
The Autumn Glow showdown
Autumn Glow’s connections picked the King Charles over The Everest in August, with owner John Messara, trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald agreeing the race suited her best, AAP reported. The Waller-trained mare has won 13 of her 14 starts and warmed up with victory in the Group 2 Seven Sunrise Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on 19 September, Racing.com reported. Our earlier story on Autumn Glow skipping The Everest has more on that call.
The two mares were expected to meet in the autumn, but Pride Of Jenni went to the Queen Of The Turf Stakes instead of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, according to Racenet. Ceolwulf, chasing a third straight King Charles, ran second in the Group 1 Epsom Handicap at Randwick on Saturday 3 October, a run Racenet described as unlucky.
What’s next
Two other King Charles contenders, Amazing Journey and Apocalyptic, ran in the same 1000m Randwick trial as Ka Ying Rising on Tuesday 6 October. The King Charles III Stakes is one of the big supporting races to the $20 million Everest on 17 October, and our Everest field guide has where every slot stands.
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