Autumn Glow has landed the first blow in an emerging rivalry between herself and younger mare Sheza Alibi with a dazzling victory in the Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick.

Under James McDonald, Autumn Glow ($1.70f) cruised along in the one-out, one-back trail with Sheza Alibi ($3.50) on the inside a length behind.

When McDonald moved to challenge the pacesetters on the final bend, Sheza Alibi latched onto her back but was fleetingly left in Autumn Glow’s turbulence as the favourite sprinted two and a half lengths ahead.

With the race within their grasp, McDonald shut down the five-year-old’s big engine over the final 50m and coasted to a length-and-a-half win from her ever-closing sparring partner.

Winning conditioner Chris Waller congratulated the racing spirit of trainer Peter Moody for supplementing Sheza Alibi and not shying away from a duel.

“It was great that Peter Moody and the owners brought their mare up to Sydney,” Waller said.

“As James McDonald said, we need to embrace it because that’s what the public wants and I get how important it is.

“We’ve come out of round one pretty well but I’m pretty sure there’s going to be rounds two and three.

“Who knows, Peter might even make it a best of five.”

The daughter of The Autumn Sun had suffered her sole defeat at her previous start when running third behind Sir Delius in April’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).

“We know how good she is, so nothing has changed for her,” Waller said.

“To come back where she is, we were confident of that with what we’ve seen from her at home.

“The big question was how much was Sheza Alibi going to improve, that was the unknown for us today.

“We now know where we are and know where Sheza Alibi is at and in the coming weeks, others will emerge, so it’s a pretty exciting time.”

The mares could renew hostilities in the King Charles III (1609m) on October 17, though there is also the option to participate in The Everest (1200m) on the same day.

However, The Everest could mean a meeting with the world’s best sprinter, Ka Ying Rising.

“(If we go to The Everest) we might be wishing we were racing Sheza Alibi (again),” Waller said.

Peter Moody acknowledged post-race he was beaten by the better horse and on their merits, though McDonald – who had a cheeky look back across the line - also lauded the chasing effort.

“Take nothing away – she’s special as well, incredible performance by Sheza Alibi,” McDonald said.

“We should embrace the two mares and how good they are. Two special horses that have come along at the same time.”