Winx described as the equine equivalent of Usain Bolt
Winx is the Usain Bolt of Australian horse racing.
The mare turned an expected showdown with Hartnell in Australia’s greatest weight-for-age race into a one-horse show, beating the top gelding by a record eight lengths in her second consecutive Cox Plate victory.
The Chris Waller-trained mare was in great order the morning after her 13th win in a row.
‘‘She was still asleep when we walked into the stable this morning at 5.30. I guess she definitely deserved it after that mighty effort,’’ Waller’s Melbourne foreperson Johanne Taylor said on Sunday.
‘‘Once we brought her out of the box she was on her toes and just a happy mare.’’
To describe her as the Usain Bolt of horse racing is fitting, Taylor agreed.
‘‘At this stage there’s nobody that’s really matching her over that particular distance in Australia. ‘‘As with Usain Bolt, nobody’s really challenging him, such as we saw at the Olympics again this year.’’
Like Bolt, who secured a sweep of sprint titles for the third successive Games, Winx is simply too good for the competition. And like Bolt, who will be trackside at Flemington for Oaks Day on November 3, Winx is also ultra-competitive.
‘‘When she goes out there even for her trackwork, you can just see that when there’s another horse five or six lengths in front of her just cantering she actually wants to get on the bridle and make sure she gets past it,’’ Taylor said. ‘‘Once she’s past the horse she just floats around again. She just loves competition.’’
Her cruising speed is some horses’ top speed, Taylor said.
● Meanwhile Kiwi trainer Tony Pike is banking on the Caulfield Guineas form carrying Sacred Elixir to another New Zealand triumph in the Victoria Derby after he strengthened his grip on favouritism for the three-year-old classic.
Sacred Elixir, already a Group I winner during his two-year-old season, sailed to victory in The Vase, one of the traditional warm-ups on Cox Plate day at Moonee Valley.
Shunted back towards the inside as he tried to track Hugh Bowman on Veladero as they cornered for home, Damian Lane spied an opening as Sacred Elixir burst to a half-length win from Morvada with So Si Bon one-and-a-quarter lengths back in third in the Group II race.