Winx odds get shorter

CHAMPION mare Winx is set to start the shortest favourite in a Sydney Group 1 race for nearly 60 years in the $600,000 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

The racehorse rated the world’s best on turf has been installed at $1.08 by Ladbrokes assessors to win her 23rd race in succession.

If Winx starts at $1.08 or shorter, she will be the hottest favourite in a Sydney major since Valerius won the same race, the 1961 Chipping Norton, at odds of $1.03 (33/1 on).

The only horse to start at shorter odds than Valerius in a Group 1 race was Ajax at $1.02 (40/1 on) in the 1939 Rawson (now Ranvet) Stakes when he was famously beaten by Spear Chief.