Winx continues stellar run with Chipping Norton Stakes win
HER trainer says Winx is no different from any other horse – except for the last 200m of any race she contests.
And as Chris Waller watched her win Saturday’s Chipping Norton Stakes at Randwick, he was just as much in awe of the mare as the crowd.
The $1.35 favourite in the group 1 mile, Winx raced worse than midfield for 1400m then kicked away in the last 200m.
“You can’t know until the last 200 metres what she has,” Waller said.
“She’s no different from other horses until then. She finds something that other horses don’t have.”
The Chipping Norton was the seventh win on end for Winx with her sequence including group 1 wins in the Queensland Oaks, the Epsom Handicap and the Cox Plate.
Her opposition on Saturday were no slouches with the imported Dibayani ($15) holding second most of the way and maintaining it to finish 1-1/2 lengths from Winx.
Hauraki ($26) was another length third with the winner’s stablemate Preferment ($71) fourth.
Waller is the country’s leading group 1 trainer but says the pressure of training a mare like Winx is new.
“You get used to pressure with other horses before group 1 races,” he said.
“But whatever happens, happens.
“This is different. You don’t get many opportunities to train a horse like Winx.
“She sets a benchmark that other horses don’t.”
Hugh Bowman rides Winx with a calmness that belies her explosive finishes.
“I just do the riding. I let Chris do the talking,” he said before opening up.
“I didn’t expect her to be as far back as she was but I didn’t see any need to disrupt her just to be where everyone expected her to be.
“I know I can rely on her.
“She has the X-factor.”
Amid all the talk, Waller refused to call her a champion just yet.
“She has to win two Cox Plates before we can do that,” he said.
But first Winx has a job to do over the Sydney autumn carnival.
“The Queen Elizabeth Stakes is her target and will be her only run over 2000 metres this campaign,” Waller said.
“How we get there I’m not sure.
“There’s the George Ryder Stakes and the Emancipation and the Doncaster is still there.
“We’ll get her home and see how she gets through this run first.”