Red-hot favourite stunned in Queen Elizabeth Stakes by Gai Waterhouse co-trained outsider
Red-hot favourite Autumn Glow has been stunned in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick, with Sir Delius winning by two lengths in a sensational boilover.
Autumn Glow was at $1.35 for the win with multiple bookmakers but could only finish third.
Jockey Nash Rawiller raced the Chris Waller trained Lindermann to second, overtaking the favourite metres from the line.
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Sir Delius' co-trainer Gai Waterhouse had told Seven's coverage pre-race that the five-year-old is "the best weight-for-age horse in Australia over 2000 metres".
Sir Delius finishes ahead of Autumn Glow. Sky Racing
"If he won the Queen Elizabeth it would certainly put him up there as the best weight-for-age hourse in Australia," she added.
Post-race, winning jockey Craig Williams heaped praise on Waterhouse and co-trainer Adrian Bott.
"Credit to Adrian Bott, Gai Waterhouse and their team. I came in and partnered him two weeks ago ... and I said 'the horse is going really well (but) he's not fast enough'," he told Sky Racing.
"A week later I came back in on Tuesday morning and sat on him and I said to the team 'you've done a fantastic job' ... wow, what an amazing racehorse, what a great performance by him."
On the flip side, Autumn Glow's jockey James McDonald described his horse as "extremely brave" despite not being able to surge for the full distance.
"They got their tactics right the winner, and fair play to them, he (Sir Delius) was extremely good on the day," he told Seven.
"We had a lovely track into it and she just felt the pinch the last furlong, I still thought she stuck to her guns well."