Winx looking way too strong for rest
SYDNEY’S super mare Winx is bigger and stronger, retains her enthusiasm for racing and has a fierce determination to win.
So what chance have her rivals got of beating her in the Group 2 Warwick Stakes (1400m) at Randwick tomorrow?
If the betting markets are any indication, her seven opponents are racing for second placing as Winx is at prohibitive odds of $1.08 with UBET.
This is hardly surprising as Winx has been unbeatable for more than two years, winning 17 races in succession.
Winx is chasing down some of racing’s most revered records with every start. If she extends her long winning streak at Randwick tomorrow, she would take her prizemoney over the $13 million barrier, second only to Makybe Diva ($14.52 million).
Her 18th consecutive win would equal’s Ajax’s record and leaves her trailing only Black Caviar (25 wins), Gloaming and Desert Gold (19 wins each) for most successive wins.
Trainer Chris Waller would not be drawn on whether Winx has improved, but said the mare was physically at the peak of her powers.
“She is 7-8kg heavier than she was in the autumn,’’ Waller said. “As a mature horse now she has put on a bit of extra weight but she has turned it into muscle and it looks to be an asset to her.”
Waller watched intently as race jockey Hugh Bowman put the mighty mare through her paces wide out on the course proper at Rosehill trackwork yesterday.
Before a large group media, and Winx’s owners Peter Tighe and Debbie Keptiis, Winx produced a piece of work that had both Waller and Bowman enthusiastic.
“She is exactly where we want her to be and each preparation has been a little bit different but quite remarkably she seems to be getting a little bit bigger and stronger and the scales would suggest that as well,’’ Waller said.
■ TRAINER John O’Shea has been found guilty of giving false evidence in the Godolphin strangles inquiry and also guilty of not reporting the case in the stable.
Former Godolphin Australia managing director Henry Plumptre was also found guilty yesterday of not reporting a diagnosis of strangles in the horse Polemic in August 2016 and fined $15,000.
Racing NSW stewards have not set a date for a penalty hearing into the charges against O’Shea.