Winx races into equine immortality with second Cox Plate romp
IN 1986 race caller Bill Collins famously said, “Bonecrusher races into equine immortality” and on Saturday at Moonee Valley champion mare Winx joined the elite of the race track.
The 2016 Cox Plate was billed as a match race between Winx and Hartnell, but there was only ever one horse in the eyes of the Australian horse racing public and it put on one of the best performances ever seen on a race track.
All eyes were on the $1.80 favourite as the gates crashed open and jockey Hugh Bowman immediately settled the champion mare into a perfect spot in the 10-horse field.
Bowman allowed his mount to stride forward as they neared the home turn and it looked as though Hartnell would challenge the great mare, but Winx quickly put lengths on the field and cruised home for a record eight-length romp.
Winx joined the greats of the turf by winning its second consecutive Cox Plate and Bowman, a mad sports fan, compared the five-year-old to his heroes of the tennis arena.
“What can I say. Honestly, she’s just given us all an amazing ride. Look, I’m a sports fanatic and I’ve grown up watching champions in all sports. When Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbeldon I idolised him, Roger Federer all the way through, lost for words to be honest,” Bowman said.
“Watching Makybe Diva when she was racing, to ride a horse like this, to come out onto the track prior to the race and have the crowd cheer you onto the track, I was really moved by that, I had to regather myself when I got her around to the start.”
Bowman was having a tough day at Moonee Valley with only one placing to his name, but winning back-to-back Cox Plates aboard Winx makes up for any past results.
“I’ve had a bit of an in-and-out afternoon, in-and-out couple of weeks,” Bowman said. “To be able to produce a ride that this mare is worthy of today, it gives me so much pride.
“Look, it’s not me, it’s the whole team, the Chris Waller stable, he’s managed the mare so well, it’s just been a wonderful ride for us, all our families, and to be on this stage I’d just like to say thank you to the sacrifices made by my wide and family.
“I’m rattling on, I can’t believe it, it’s an amazing experience.”
Trainer Chris Waller was lost for words following the race and after a 2016 Cox Plate preparation which started 365 days ago, the relief was evident.
“Do I have to say anymore? Quite unbelievable, obviously I thought she could win, not like that, 365 days has gone into today,” Waller said. “It’s not easy, obviously once she started racing she was pretty special, who would dream of this?”
Punters had predicted that Hartnell would test Winx following three impressive victories this spring, but Winx was on another level at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
“You’re looking for Hartnell, you’re looking for our end to end, you’re looking for others from the rest of the pack,” Waller said. “It’s the best from around the world really, so you never expect to win like that, always expecting the unexpected.”
Hartnell battled on courageously for second after it looked to be one-paced around the turn. The John O’Shea-trained runner was odds on to finish second behind Winx and punters got a great quinella result of $2.60 at Sportsbet.
No run matched that of Winx, but three-year-old Yankee Rose showed that it can cope with the older horses. The David Vandyke-trained filly ran on stoutly for third with 47.5kg on its back and it gained plenty of admirers.
International raider Vadamos was the best of the rest, running 9.8 lengths behind Winx in fourth position.