Thirty-something Winx takes age in her stride

SUPERSTAR mare Winx easily won her 30th consecutive race yesterday as she began what is expected to be a farewell autumn campaign before drawing a close on her incredible career.

The Chris Waller-trained champion galloper was oddson favourite at the 1400m Apollo Stakes at Sydney’s Royal Randwick Racecourse and she did not disappoint in her first outing of the year.

With long-time jockey Hugh Bowman in the saddle, the seven-year-old bided her time before taking the lead with 200m to go and effortlessly romped to victory by two lengths ahead of Happy Clapper and Egg Tart.

“She was in pure control from the 600m mark,” said Bowman after Winx won the race for a third time.

“As the race unfolded we settled into a lovely rhythm. It was a pretty comfortable race for me and for Winx.” HUGH BOWMAN

It extended the world’s toprated turf horse’s win streak to 30, stretching almost four years.

Winx smashed legendary sprinter Black Caviar’s Australian win record last August when making it 26 in a row and subsequently cemented her place in horseracing history by winning a record fourth Cox Plate in Melbourne.

It made her the only horse to claim Australia’s most prestigious weight-for-age race four times.

But the clock is inevitably ticking for Winx, the 2018 Horse of the Year alongside England’s star, Cracksman.

This is widely expected to be Winx’s last season, with the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in April seen as her likely swan song.

“It’s a massive relief. It’s quite unbelievable,” said an emotional Waller after seeing his horse win yet again.

“She can’t tell us when she’s had enough and we made the decision to push on further (with an autumn season) for the better of racing.”

“She was in pure control from the 600m mark”