Winx out to dodge ghosts of past stars
THE ghosts of legendary champions Ajax and Kingston Town could come back to haunt Winx at Royal Randwick tomorrow.
Winx won’t be aware but there are some unnerving similarities with those former champions the mighty mare must overcome to win the Group 2 $250,000 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m).
The superstar of Sydney racing has won 18 races in succession – the same number Ajax had recorded before his winning run came to a shock end.
Ajax was a 40/1 on favourite when beaten by 33/1 outsider Spear Chief in the 1939 Rawson Stakes – the biggest upset in Australian racing history.
The Chelmsford Stakes was also the race that ended the great Kingston Town’s 21-race Sydney winning streak in 1982 when “The King” was pocketed on the fence before finishing fourth behind Rare Form.
Kingston Town drew barrier three that day, the same barrier position Winx will start from in tomorrow’s Chelmsford. But Kingston Town rebounded from that shock loss and won an unprecedented third-successive Cox Plate that spring – a record Winx could equal next month.
Winx will start at the shortest odds of her stellar career in the Chelmsford Stakes, with UBET offering $1.08 about the mare recording her 19th-successive win.
Trainer Chris Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman were relaxed and confident after Rosehill trackwork yesterday, convinced Winx had done everything right since her memorable first-up win in the Warwick Stakes two weeks ago. Although she wasn’t out to make time, Winx showed her tough first-up run to win the Warwick Stakes nearly two weeks ago had not taken anything out of her.
She wore the ear muffs in the gallop, which she will do tomorrow in an endeavour to ensure she doesn’t become fractious in the barriers.
“She has done everything right since the Warwick Stakes,” Waller said.