One last hurrah for Winx
Chris Waller has confirmed champion mare Winx will have a farewell Sydney preparation, which is likely to start with the Apollo Stakes at Randwick on February 16.
She returned to Waller’s Rosehill stable in Sydney earlier in the month and has pleased him enough to decide she will have one more preparation.
She will follow what has been her traditional path through the Chipping Norton Stakes again at Randwick on March 2 and the George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill on March 23, with the most likely farewell in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on April 13.
Waller and the owners consulted with jockey Hugh Bowman before making the decision to race on with the seven-year-old mare, who is holding her condition. The preparation will be race-by-race.
‘‘She has nothing left to prove to us or her many followers and we are under no illusion that she is getting a little older,’’ Waller said.
‘‘However she is in excellent condition both physically and mentally and had she not pleased us in any area of her wellbeing or mental state she would have been retired immediately.
‘‘This is not to say that it may not happen before her first run of the preparation, after her first run or at any stage where we are not happy with any aspect of her training or physical state.
‘‘We will not commit to any races as yet but it would be logical to follow the path we have previously, commencing in the Apollo Stakes at Royal Randwick in February and if she did manage to get through a fourrace preparation it would most likely culminate in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick.
‘‘I must stress to everyone that it shouldn’t be assumed she will be there, it will be a race-by-race assessment as it has always been, especially over the past two seasons when deciding whether to go towards a third Cox Plate, a second Queen Elizabeth or even a fourth Cox Plate as it was in her last start.’’
Winx has captured the imagination of the wider public, winning her past 29 races in a row in a remarkable four years.
Her last appearance was in the Cox Plate, which she won for an unprecedented fourth time and equalled the world mark of winning 10 Group I races on end.
If she does return in the Apollo Stakes her consecutive Group I winning run will be broken with the race only a Group II.