Traffic problem for Winx Winx finalist for Victoria award
BIGGER FIELD IN CHELMSFORD COULD BE A CONCERN FOR OZ SUPERSTAR
Winx will be running wearing earmuffs.
Champion mare Winx’s presence in the weight-for-age Group 2 $250,000 Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) hasn’t deterred the connections of another 15 runners from nominating for the race.
Winx has won her last 18 races in succession with 10 of those wins coming in Sydney weightfor-age races.
In those Sydney wins, she has met an average of eight rivals, with the biggest field being one of 12 runners. If all the Chelmsford entries accept for Saturday’s race, this would be the biggest field Winx has ever contested. She won the 2015 Doncaster Mile against 14 opponents.
Winx goes into the Chelmsford Stakes after her memorable comeback win in the Warwick Stakes where she blew the start by four lengths yet still unleashed an irresistible late surge to run down stablemate Foxplay near the line.
Winx after overcoming a horror start to make it 18 consecutive victories.
Trainer Chris Waller has been given stewards approval to use ear muffs on Winx in an endeavour to prevent the great mare from missing the start again.
“It (earmuffs) just helps to block out the background noise,’’ Waller said at Rosehill last Saturday. “She’ll still hear Hugh Bowman say ‘it’s time to go’.
“She wears ear muffs when she works and when she parades before they come off prior to the start.
“This time they will stay on for the race.’’
Despite the surprisingly large number of Chelmsford entries, Winx is likely to start at the shortest price of her celebrated career as TAB Fixed Odds has already posted the great mare at $1.06 in early betting with Foxplay next at $15 then it is $26 the field.
The shortest odds offered about Winx so far is the $1.09 bookies bet before her George Main Stakes win last year.
But Winx will almost certainly start at shorter odds on Saturday as Foxplay is an unlikely Chelmsford runner.
Waller has indicated Foxplay could contest the Group 2 $200,000 Tramway Stakes (1400m) instead this Saturday or be reserved for Rosehill next week.
She has also been entered for the Group 1 $1 million Memsie Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield this weekend. Champion mare Winx and Melbourne Cup winner Almandin head the five finalists for the Victorian Racehorse Of The Year award.
The Chris Waller mare finished runner-up behind Chautauqua last year but a second straight Cox Plate last October by a record margin has her well placed to go one better.
Her eight-length win over Hartnell at Moonee Valley came two weeks after Winx made light work of a small field — which included Black Heart Bart — in the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes.
Racing Victoria announced the finalists for the award on Monday. The finalists are: ALMANDIN: 5 starts, 3 wins (1 x Group 1), $4,064,000 BLACK HEART BART: 8 starts, 4 wins (4 x Group 1), 3 placings, $1,442,000 HARTNELL: 3 starts, 1 win (1 x Group 1), 2 placings, $1,192,500 JAMEKA: 9 starts, 2 wins (1 x Group 1), 2 placings, $2,391,250 WINX: 2 starts, 2 wins (2 x Group 1), $2,212,750
The award, which is judged on performances on Victorian racetracks from August 2016 to July 2017 irrespective of where the horse is trained, will be presented at the gala Scobie Breasley Medal ceremony on 3 September.