Winx starts farewell in style
The start of the Winx’s farewell campaign went to script in Saturday’s Apollo Stakes at Royal Randwick and, as always, she let no one down as she romped away to her 30th consecutive victory.
The pressure of expectation was there but this time there didn’t appear to be a moment of doubt as Winx set a race record in front of 15,300 fans.
Happy Clapper was second, as he had been three times before, the margin 2 lengths, and Egg Tart another two lengths away in third.
But this was a celebration of the greatness of one horse. If Winx was vulnerable at the 1400-metre distance, there was no sign of it as she controlled and crushed her rivals in a fashion that is becoming predictable. It might be seen as just another victory, but Winx remains the most dominant horse in the world.
‘‘I was in pure control, or she was in pure control, from the 600 metres when the pressure started to build,’’ jockey Hugh Bowman said.
‘‘As we have seen over this distance previously, she can be just left a bit flat-footed. But because of the even pace of the race, it wasn’t the case today.
‘‘As I went past Sam [Clipperton, on Happy Clapper], I just really asked her to really put in and give her full effort and she did.’’
Chris Waller admitted the decision to come back for a farewell campaign had weighed heavily on him after the fourth Cox Plate last spring.
Winx showed she was still an elite athlete, probably the best to grace the turf of Randwick in more than 150 years, with another show of dominance. But it was relief for the premier trainer.
‘‘It is quite unbelievable,’’ Waller said. ‘‘We had a glimpse of it with Black Caviar, she set the scene in recent years, with Makybe Diva, and now Winx is following on from them. It’s a great sport and she’s a true headline act.
‘‘Racing’s in a great position for having stars on the track. But to tell you the truth, it’s a total relief. It’s been our decision to push on a bit further and there are always the challenges involved in that and how people perceive it.
‘‘There is always a small percentage of people who are a bit negative as to the reasons why we are pushing on. But the reason to push on was Winx. She is still enjoying her racing and we look after her. This is better for racing for her to be here.’’