From Bargain Buy to Derby Contender: The Rise of Autumn Mystery

Kristen Manning

Editor

Last updated: Thu 30 Oct 2025 06:30

Kristen Manning 30 Oct 2025

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Rory Hunter found Autumn Mystery for $15,000 at a yearling sale
Autumn Mystery is now a strong contender for the Victoria Derby after winning the Group 3 Norman Robinson Stakes
Hunter, with racing in his blood, enjoys training 'Frankie' for longtime family friends

Trainer Rory Hunter poses with Autumn Mystery after winning the Norman Robinson Stakes. (Getty)

Spring Glory For Autumn Mystery?

Spring Glory For Autumn Mystery?
Right Place, Right Time
Growing Up In The Game
A Special Connection

It was towards the very end of the 2024 William Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale that young Mornington-based trainer Rory Hunter found himself “in the right place at the right time.” Among the last ten or so lots going through the ring that day was a horse by The Autumn Sun, the five-time Group 1 winner who had made an encouraging start to his stud career.

It was March last year, and at that time the Arrowfield Stud-based stallion had been represented by 18 winners, including three stakes winners. The signs were there, but he was yet to truly hit the big time. He had six horses in that sale, the others selling for between $50,000 and $21,000. Lot 547 was the cheapest of his progeny at Oaklands, secured for $15,000 at a sale which averaged 8.5 times that amount.

The others are either yet to race or place, but Autumn Mystery has proven himself one of Victoria’s most promising young stayers — on the back of a courageous win in the Group 3 Norman Robinson Stakes — lining up as a threat to the favourites in Saturday’s $2 million Victoria Derby.

“He was just a really nice, athletic sort of horse who looked like he’d make a better three-year-old than a two-year-old,” recalled Rory, as his family’s long-time friends Nick and Denise Thompson bid successfully for the Gilgai Farm-bred colt.

Right Place, Right Time

“I think we were pretty lucky — there were not many people there by that time, most of the trainers had gone home!”

The stable bought just one horse at that sale, making the achievement of getting to the race Rory describes as “the grand final” all the more impressive. Overseeing a stable of ten horses — “we have room for 20, so if anyone wants to drop a horse in, we’d be more than happy to take them on!” — Rory is understandably excited about taking on the big guns such as Maher and Waller as he heads to Flemington on Saturday.

“I’m just glad to be a part of it all,” he said. “I am really looking forward to it.”

Rory has been pleased with the progress Autumn Mystery has made since overcoming trouble in running to defeat many of his Derby rivals at Caulfield. “He came through that race really well and worked nicely here at Mornington on Tuesday morning.”

“Unfortunately, he has drawn terribly in barrier 17, which doesn’t make things easy,” he said, though having Blake Shinn again on board is a major plus as that in-form rider seeks his first VRC Derby success.

Growing Up In The Game

Into only his third year of training, Rory was “born to be in the racing game,” with relatives on both sides of his family heavily involved in the sport as trainers and jockeys — including his father Steve, who enjoyed success in Western Australia highlighted by the dual Group and two-time Listed winner Mister Till.

That horse ventured to Victoria on a couple of occasions, in January 1991 splitting the high-class sprinters Redelva and With Me in a record-run Group 1 William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley — behind him that day were the likes of Kingston Rule, Street Ruffian and Vo Rogue.

Rory’s earliest memories are horse-focused, his mum carrying him on her back around the stables, and there was never any doubt that he would end up working in the game. “Like many kids of trainers, I hoped to be a jockey, but I got too tall and training was the next best option.”

A Special Connection

Training a horse like Autumn Mystery (affectionately known as “Frankie”) for family friends is something “very special,” Rory said, and he has loved getting to know the young horse who has inherited the lovely temperament the Danehill and Redoute’s Choice line is known for.

“He is a beautiful, calm horse and nothing fazes him, which really helps when you are racing on such a big day as Derby Day.”

Whatever happens on Saturday, Rory is confident that the best is still to come for Autumn Mystery. “He is a tall, athletic type of horse with a lot of scope and he still looks six to twelve months off his best,” he said.

Though he is very happy with where Autumn Mystery is at the moment — “he looks like a Derby horse,” he said.