Winx takes second Cox Plate in a canter
Winx has put her champion status beyond doubt with her second consecutive win in the Cox Plate, beating Hartnell by a record eight lengths.
WINX FACTS:
* Born – September 14, 2011.
* Sire – Street Cry.
* Dam – Vegas Showgirl.
* Cost – $230,000 at Magic Millions yearling sale.
* Trainer Chris Waller.
* Prizemoney of $9,348,175 with 17 wins from 23 starts.
WINNING STREAK:
* Started with the Group Three Sunshine Coast Guineas last year.
* Has won 13 consecutive races including nine at Group One level.
* Last beaten in April 2015 by Gust Of Wind in the Australian Oaks.
GROUP ONE WINS:
* 2015 – Queensland Oaks, Epsom Handicap, Cox Plate (race record).
* 2016 – Chipping Norton Stakes, George Ryder Stakes, Doncaster Mile, George Main Stakes, Caulfield Stakes, Cox Plate.
JOCKEYS:
* Regular rider Hugh Bowman has been on Winx for 12 wins and one second.
* Larry Cassidy was aboard for the start of the streak in last year’s Sunshine Coast Guineas.
* James McDonald, Tommy Berry and Jason Collett have also won on her.
WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT WINX AFTER HER SECOND COX PLATE
“I knew she was in the zone and when she’s in the zone, well you saw her” – trainer Chris Waller.
“I knew Hartnell would take me where I needed to go to, and he couldn’t take me far enough. Even James (McDonald) said as I went by him, “Oh, Jesus Christ!. Winx’s rider Hugh Bowman.
“Wow! I don’t know what to say, I was going all right too. It’s definitely not his track. He was brave in defeat but geez, she (Winx) is unreal” – Hartnell’s jockey James McDonald.
“Winx is just an out and out champion. The way she left the rest of us in her wake, that just stamped her as an out-and-out champion. And our filly is top class” – David Vandyke, trainer of third-placed Yankee Rose.
“I think she’s the best I’ve seen. He didn’t even touch her going to the line. I think the only other horse I’ve ever saw to win like a superstar was Tulloch. He was something out of the box and she’s not far behind him, believe me” – Veteran trainer Leon Corstens who prepares fifth placegetter Awesome Rock with his son Troy.
“In 40 years time I will be able to say that I was in the 2016 Cox Plate when Winx spanked us and proved she was one of the greats of all time” – Happy Clapper’s jockey Brenton Avdulla (6th) on Twitter
LAST WORD
“Awesome. It’s a pleasure to watch good horses. I started clapping at the top of the straight. She had a lap on them. She’s the best mile-and-a-quarter horse in the world. Phenomenal” – Former trainer Peter Moody who prepared the unbeaten Black Caviar to her 25 wins.