Ghosts stalking Winx
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. It was thought the flaxen- maned champion simply had an “off” day.
But it was an equine traffic jam that ended the great Kingston Town’s 21- race Sydney winning streak in the 1982 Chelmsford Stakes. “The King” was pocketed on the fence and never got clear galloping room 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 is set to start at the shortest odds of her celebrated career in the Chelmsford Stakes with TAB Fixed Odds offering $ 1.08 about the mighty mare to record her 19th successive win.
Trainer Chris Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman were relaxed and confident after Rosehill trackwork yesterday that Winx has done everything right since her memorable first- up win in the Warwick Stakes two weeks ago.
Winx galloped solo wide out on the Rosehill course proper and although she wasn’t out to make time, she showed that her tough firstup run to win the Warwick Stakes has not taken anything out of her.
The mighty mare 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 and miss the start badly again like she did in the Warwick Stakes.
“Winx is 3- 4kg lighter than she was before the Warwick Stakes,’’ said Waller when asked if Winx had improved since the Warwick Stakes.
“We gave her a really solid gallop on Tuesday where she was very impressive so this morning was more a maintenance gallop.”