Winx back on track
Sydney’s champion trainer Chris Waller is brimming with confidence that his champion mare Winx will be in top shape for this weekend’s George Main Stakes at Randwick, despite the fact she missed a lead-up run in the Chelmsford Stakes earlier in September.
The 5-year-old superstar is on a mission to land a second successive Cox Plate at Moonee Valley and Waller is confident that missing out on a lead-up run will not compromise her prospects.
Winx will face a new challenger on Saturday in the shape of Darren Weir’s Japanese galloper Tosen Stardom, an unlucky fourth in the Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes at the Valley earlier this month, but neither Waller nor the mare’s rider, Hugh Bowman, seems to be that bothered by the threat he might offer.
Asked at a Cox Plate launch in Sydney whether he had any concerns about Weir’s galloper, Bowman was short and succinct.
‘‘No’’, he replied, with a grin but without much further elaboration.
Waller was more forthcoming, saying that while he had every confidence in Winx, any top level rival had to be respected but not feared when it came to the Cox Plate.
‘‘You can’t worry too much about the opposition. It’s Australasia’s championship race, it’s at weight-for-age level and you have got to expect all the best horses to be there and the best horses to come from around the world.’’
Winx’s absence from the Chelmsford Stakes was not because of injury but the prevailing heavy track on the day. ‘‘She’s a wonderful horse and a wonderful athlete. We designed her program so that she could have four runs before the Cox Plate, and that being the fifth run.
‘‘I was thinking at the time that it was probably one too many. With horses things can go wrong, and missing that last start, it was the weather not her. I just didn’t want to risk running her on a very wet track; it takes a lot out of a horse.
‘‘Horses are naturally better at running on good surfaces, they tend to come through races better and run better.’’
Winx has now won 10 straight races and Waller said she could have as many as three starts – although two is more likely – in Melbourne this spring. The Mackinnon Stakes at the end of the carnival is a possibility, although the trainer stressed that it was unlikely.
Her next assignment will be in the Caulfield Stakes (2000 metres), a traditional Group I lead up to the Cox Plate. And depending on circumstances and how she comes out of that test, she could back up again at Flemington at the Emirates Stakes.
Meanwhile Tavago’s Group I Caulfield Cup preparation may take in a detour to Sydney this week.
"He’s coming up really well and it’s 50-50 at this stage whether we shoot him up there for the Hill Stakes or if we wait for the Underwood," said Trent Busuttin, who prepares the son of Tavistock with his partner Natalie Young.
The Group II Hill Stakes is a 2000 metre weight-for- age contest at Randwick, while the Group I Underwood Stakes is at Caulfield a week later over 1800 metres. "We’ll just have a think about it over the next couple of days, but whatever happens he’ll be third-up into the Caulfield Cup," Busuttin said.