Gate draw sideshow for queen of the turf

WHEN it comes to the Valley, Cox Plates and Winx, barrier draws are irrelevant.

Successful at the Valley in 2015 from the pole, gate three in 2016 and alley No.5 last season, Winx has been impregnable at the iconic amphitheatre.

Yesterday’s draw, where connections were asked to choose barriers after their horse’s name was randomly drawn, saw Winx land in gate six in a field of eight. Partowner Peter Tighe had a choice of four remaining gates — two, six, seven and eight.

He settled on six — and brought the house down as he reprised, straight-faced, Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones. “There’s no problem, but you can’t always get what you want,” Tighe said.

“We would have liked another couple in, but we’ve got to take what’s left and we’re happy with that.”

Tighe might not have known it at the time, but gate six has been the most successful Cox Plate barrier over the past 35 years.

For all that, markets suggest where Winx starts the 2040m trek is immaterial. She is a $1.25 chance to win her fourth Cox Plate, confronted by just seven rivals.

Winx’s three-season reign in Australia’s greatest weightfor-age contest has been shaped by an unworldly faculty for blowing the race apart long before it is over.

Last year was the exception to the rule when Humidor ran Winx and Hugh Bowman close before she rallied.

Humidor, from barrier seven, is back this year in an intriguing mix of the proven and contending. The testing material has always shaped to come from Godolphin’s Benbatl, who jumps from gate three. Already a Group 1 victor in Australia, Benbatl’s international rating marks him as a truly serious horse.

His barrier, unlike Winx’s, matters. On Saturday, at 5pm, Saeed bin Suroor will know a lot more about his charge — and Winx.