Catch her if you can

TRAINER Chris Waller has ominously declared Winx to be at the peak of her form and fitness as she prepares for her Cox Plate three-peat at Moonee Valley tomorrow.

The super mare looks to have the $3.5 million Cox Plate at her mercy, though Waller is guarding against complacency creeping into the Winx camp.

But the $1.15 favourite is poised to equal Kingston Town’s Cox Plate hat-trick, join Black Caviar with a record 15th Group 1 win and take her prizemoney to more than $15.5 million, smashing the earnings record of Makybe Diva, who won $14.52 million.

Waller watched Winx go through her final workout at Flemington yesterday morning and said the champion mare could not be in better shape before tomorrow’s big race.

“Before the Cox Plate last year, we said there needed to be a champion to beat her because she was as good as we could have her,’’ Waller said.

“Nothing has changed going into this year’s Cox Plate. Her ‘semi-final’ run in the Turnbull Stakes was very impressive and although it will be a stronger field [tomorrow], her work, the perfect three-week gap between races, it couldn’t have been better.

“That to me would suggest she is very well, she looks in great condition, her coat is starting to come through nicely, her blood levels are good — every check that we are looking for has been perfect.’’

Waller said Winx, now a six-yearold mare, was also at her physical peak and a stronger mare than she was on this day last year. “Horses are like people, we mature as we get older, she is now a very strong horse carrying a bit more muscle,’’ he said. “Does it really make them run faster? I don’t know — potentially it could make them a little bit more explosive.”

Waller said Winx will go for a “jog around the park” tomorrow morning as a final tune-up before her historic bid at a third Cox Plate.