Winx retirement rejected
Owner says champion mare’s career not over yet
RACING: Debbie Kepitis maintains there has been no consideration given to retiring champion mare Winx if she wins an unprecedented fourth Cox Plate later this month.
There have been suggestions the Cox Plate could be Winx’s final race start but Kepitis, who part-owns Winx with Richard Treweeke and Peter Tighe, dismissed the speculation.
“There has been no retirement talk, definitely not,’’ Kepitis said yesterday.
“If all goes well, Winx will run in the Cox Plate, she will definitely go for a spell and then we will see how she is (next autumn),
“As (trainer) Chris (Waller) keeps saying, she is racing so well you would be doing her a disservice by retiring her. She is enjoying it and wants to race.’’
Winx extended her phenomenal winning streak to 28 and took out her 21st Group 1 win in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.
Sydney’s super mare is racing as well as ever as evidenced by the memorable Turnbull Stakes triumph, her ninth successive Group 1 win.
Winx seemed to be in trouble back near last on the inside coming to the turn but was able to reel off three successive sub-11s 200m sectional splits from the 600m to the finish to power past her rivals and ultimately win with relative ease.
Kepitis admitted it was “heart-in-the-mouth stuff” watching Winx’s race.
“Once she got through (the gap) it was all good,’’ she said.
“But the day felt different from the moment I woke up (Saturday) morning. It worried me, it concerned me all day although everything was OK in the end. There was amazing reception for her after the race with so many people rushing to the fence to get as close as they could to Winx. It was sensational.’’
Kepitis, Tighe and Waller are teaming up again for the $13 million The TAB Everest on Saturday as slot-holders with Brave Smash.
The Darren Weir-trained Brave Smash ran third in the inaugural Everest behind Redzel last year but seems to be going better this spring including his last start second to Viddora in the Group 1 Moir Stakes.