Winx resumes at Apollo Stakes ahead of big campaign
2015 COX Plate champion, Winx, is set to resume this Saturday in the Group 2 $250,000 Apollo Stakes before embarking on a campaign leading into the Queen Elizabeth or Doncaster Handicap.
The Chris Waller-trained mare has been off the scene since winning the Cox Plate in emphatic fashion and punters are eager to see it return in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes at Randwick. Sportsbet.com.au currently has Winx at $1.75 to win with a host of Group 1-performed runners featured in the market.
Waller had a few options to kick off its new campaign, but stated running in the Apollo will be its best option going forward.
“It’s very likely that she’ll run in the Apollo which opens things up for me,” Waller said.
“The easy option would have been running a week later in the Millie Fox [Stakes], but that would have tied me into races like the Coolmore. I don’t want to make a decision [yet] on running in the Coolmore.
“If I run her in the Apollo I can run her in the Chipping Norton.”
Winx had an exhibition gallop at Randwick last Saturday where it ran its final 600 metres in 35.44 seconds. Waller is happy with how it has returned and he feels the pressure of training a horse everyone wants to see.
“It’s easy to say they’ve come back bigger, stronger and better but you don’t find that out until raceday,” Waller said.
“With most horses I can get away that being wrong or right in making the decision but with a horse like Winx we’re just trying that extra bit harder to make sure that she didn’t need the run first-up. That she’s there to win. Not to disappoint the public.”
Winx has won three of its four fresh up runs and Waller believes it’s in good mental shape and has put on some extra weight since taking out the world’s toughest weight-for-age race.
“Mentally she’s fantastic, which is a big query when you’ve got a filly that has had a lot of racing,” Waller said.
“We’re not leaving a stone unturned. She’s come in with plenty of time, with nice weight on her. She’s not a big heavy mare. She’s 10 or 15kg heavier this time in so I’m now learning that she’s just been a touch soft up until the last seven days.
“She’s trialled OK. Up to my standard and probably up to her standard. She’s not a sensational trialler. She’s never gone gang-busters in a trial.”
Winx will look towards either the Queen Elizabeth Stakes or the Doncaster Handicap during The Championships with a few key lead-up runs scheduled.
“Either the Emancipation [or] Sky High Stakes as her preparation run for the Queen Elizabeth or the Doncaster,” Waller said. “I just want to get the first race right so I’m not having to run her closer to the big targets.
“It’s a long carnival in Sydney and I think that’s fantastic. Because things can go wrong.
“You don’t want a stone bruise or a temperature a week before a Queen Elizabeth and you’ve missed out on all that.”
Winx is the $7 favourite at CrownBet for the 2016 Cox Plate and Waller is hoping his mare will be in a position to defend its title.
“It would be my suggestion to the owners that after the Queen Elizabeth, to wait for the Cox Plate,” Waller said.
“She’s a racehorse. Her winning is probably just as much as important to us as prizemoney now.
“She’s a valuable horse. We want to keep her winning.
“We would love to be in a position after the carnival where we can defend her title in the Cox Plate.”