WALLER LOADS UP FOR THE VERRY ELLEEGANT STAKES

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Even in this day and age in which we have mega-sized stables dominating field numbers, the nominations for the $1 million Verry Elleegant Stakes made extraordinary reading.

Eleven runners were weighted for the 1600m contest with no less than eight of those entries coming from the Chris Waller stable. After final acceptances, those numbers changed marginally.

The final field consists of nine runners. Waller will send out seven of them which means that, as prize-money is paid down to tenth place, every one of the Waller trained runners will pick up a guaranteed share of the prize-money.

Just to repeat, this is a $1 million where even fourth place pays $42 000 in prize-money. Yet, other than Waller, only two other stables have taken up the challenge.

Two points to consider.

Point 1:

The field is headlined by Waller’s unbeaten star Autumn Glow who brings a perfect record of nine wins from nine starts into the race.

It is quite understandable that many sets of connections would not want to take on Autumn Glow in an uneven contest where hearts and spirits could be broken.

Point 2:

The same reluctance could also be true of facing Ceolwulf and Sir Delius, the two runners taking on the Waller army. Both are formidable racehorses in their own right.

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained Sir Delius returns following close to a five month layoff from racing, a layoff which came about in unusual circumstances.

The import put back-to-back Group 1 wins together late last year … saluting in the Underwood and the Turnbull (a race where she beat Via Sistina) … and he was being set for the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup when Racing Victoria stewards ordered that Sir Delius be withdrawn from those races after regulatory scans were interpreted as showing Sir Delius to be at high risk of injury.

Clearly, that was a massive setback coming out of left field, but the son of the mighty Frankel has now served his time out and, after coming through three trials well enough, he could be set for a big preparation.

Saturday’s contest, being over 1600m, looks to be an ideal kicking off point for Sir Delius … racing fresh after that layoff, but it should be noted that all six of his victories from ten starts have come at distances ranging from 1800m to 2400m.

The Joe Pride trained Ceolwulf also returns from a medical scare, but it was one which has not cost him any time on the sidelines.

Ceolwulf raced in the Apollo Stakes just two weeks ago (in a race won by Autumn Glow) where he pulled up with blood in both nostrils.

After a complete and through investigation, it was determined that Ceolwulf had not suffered a bleeding attack and he was thus cleared to continue with his racing schedule.

Ceolwulf boasts the distinction of winning back-to-back editions of the $5 million King Charles III Stakes … as well as having claimed victories in the Group 1 Epsom and the Group 1 Champions Mile.

Importantly, all of Ceolwulf’s biggest wins have been achieved over 1600m … the distance over which Saturday’s Verry Elleegant Stakes will be contested.

Looking for something beyond the ‘big three.’

It would have to be a Waller trained runner, of course, and Aeliana could be the one to fit that bill.

The four-year-old mare has not won since taking out the Group 1 ATC Derby over 2400m back in April 2025, but she did chase Autumn Glow home last time, finishing second 2.66 lengths behind her unbeaten stable companion when first-up over 1400m.

Like Sir Delius, she too would prefer more ground, but she could well be finishing strongly enough to run a really cheeky race