Time for Winx to clean up
SHORT-PRICED Cox Plate favourite Winx gets a wash and a swim this week in the lead-up to today’s big race at Moonee Valley. It may be her final Cox Plate, but owner Peter Tighe has dismissed suggestions the great mare is about to be retired.
THIS is most likely the last Cox Plate Winx contests but it won’t be the last race start for the great mare.
Owner Peter Tighe has dismissed suggestions Winx will be retired if she wins her fourth consecutive $5 million Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley today.
“We haven’t even discussed it,’’ Tighe said when pressed on the retirement talk.
“Of course, we realise she can’t race forever, it would be stupid to think she would go on for a few more years.
“But all we are concentrating on is the Cox Plate [today] and then Winx can go for a spell and we will have a good look at it after Christmas.
“It will be Winx’s call. If she has a yearning to race again we will give her an autumn preparation next year.
“We will then sit down and have a good, hard look at our options. I would say probably one more preparation [next autumn] and then we will have to think about what we are doing with breeding from her and things like that.’’
Winx is the $1.22 favourite with to claim an unprecedented fourth Cox Plate today. The champion sevenyear-old mare seems to be racing as well as ever and is poised to score her 29th straight win, her 22nd at Group 1 level and to take her overall career earnings to more than $22 million.
Trainer Chris Waller, who said this week he believes Winx is at the peak of her powers, also confirmed there has been no talk of retiring the champion mare.
“We haven’t spoken about it [retirement] which gives you a pretty good guide that I don’t think there will be any decisions made [today],’’ Waller said on Melbourne radio yesterday. “While she’s fit and racing well, in our minds, she’s missed the breeding season because you are going to get a late foal and it’s not giving her a good start sending her straight to a stallion, so therefore there’s no rush.
“The only thing I ever consider is safety. Like every racehorse, when they go out to the races, there’s that element of risk and that’s why our horses are checked by the vets every day. I really think it comes down to the horse and her form and the feedback from what I am getting from my key staff, what Hugh’s [Bowman] telling me, what the owner wants.
“I am a coach, I am manager of fitness and making sure the horse is running well so I’ll probably leave that decision to the feedback I am getting.”