All Blacks visit wonder mare Winx
A horse and rugby team who are both famous for their winning streaks have traded tips in Sydney.
Winx, the world’s best horse, and the All Blacks, the World Cup champions, are two of the hottest favourites in Australasian sport this weekend.
All Blacks Anton LienertBrown, Damian McKenzie, Sam Cane and captain Kieran Read have visited the world’s best racehorse at the stables of expat Kiwi trainer Chris Waller in Sydney this week.
Winx, who is the No 1 rated horse in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, will race for her 26th straight win at Royal Randwick tomorrow. Just over four-and-a-half hours later the All Blacks and Wallabies will do battle in the Bledisloe opener an hour across town at ANZ Stadium.
The All Blacks’ winning streak stands at just eight wins following their 23-18 loss to Australia in Brisbane in October last year. But their best is the 18 straight wins racked up between 2015 and 2016.
If either of Winx or the All Blacks are beaten tomorrow, it will be a massive shock.
Winx holds a slight edge in the favouritism stakes. She is $1.14 to win the Winx Stakes – a race named after her – but the All Backs are $1.18 in the head-tohead market to beat the Wallabies.
Waller, who has trained Winx for all of her 35 starts – that have yielded 29 wins – relocated to Sydney 18 years ago.
A Hall of Fame trainer in Australia and New Zealand, Waller is one of Australasia’s most successful trainers.
Winx’s profile in the racing world is on a par with the All Blacks brand in the sport of rugby.