The wonder of Winx
Ex-pat Kiwi trainer Chris Waller believes Winx’s rare ability to cope with the exacting demands of top level racing is one of the keys to her remarkable consistency and longevity.
The champion mare is aiming for her 27th consecutive win in the group one $500,000 George Main Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick today, extending her famous winning streak that stretches more than three years.
Waller said Winx is unlike any horse he has trained in the way she can hold her condition through an exacting race preparation.
“I have never seen it before,” Waller said. “You send her to the races and she will drop a couple of kilos and then put her on the scales on a Monday and she’s back to her racing weight. Almost every horse at the start of the preparation will lose 10kg and put some of it back on but not all of it.
“She will stay the same weight, unless you want her to get fitter. We wind her up a bit as her distances step up and then she will tighten up a bit.
“She doesn’t eat any more than other horses, it’s almost like she keeps an eye on her weight. It is quite weird, it is very strange. She is just a unique horse.”
The trainer also pointed out that in the majority of Winx’s races, she wins with “a bit in hand” and this helps her to recover quickly after a race.
“Maybe it is because she is not under pressure to win [many of ] her races,” Waller said.
The select eight-horse George Main field includes seven individual group one winners but Winx is so dominant she has been installed as the $1.10 favourite on Australian TAB Fixed Odds.
Waller originally nominated 15 horses for the race but has accepted five — Winx, Who Shot Thebarman, Egg Tart, Unforgotten and Religify, the only runner yet to win at the top level.
If Winx wins as expected, she will take her world record for group one wins to 20 and her national record of consecutive wins to 27.
“She doesn’t show the signs of slowing down,” Waller said. “She is great and I can’t see any reason why she can’t continue on a bit longer.”
During her incredible run of wins, Winx has often put lengths on her rivals at the finish but even those races when her winning margin has been narrow the great mare has still been dominant.
But there was one race in her famous winning streak when Winx was fully tested — the 2017 Warwick Stakes.
This was the day when Waller believes Winx had to dig deep like never before or since. The one race where she had to produce a maximum effort.
“I would say when she missed the start then had to reel off impossible sectionals to win,” Waller said. “[Jockey] Hughie [Bowman] said that day was the only time he had to ask her for an extreme effort.
Analysis of the race and sectional times support Waller’s view.
The champion mare was timed to run her last 600m in an incredible 31.88s — a breathtaking sectional given she was at or near peak acceleration 1000m from home.
Winx’s ability to sustain her sprint over an extended distance separates her from other horses.
Some can record faster 200m splits but none can absorb the pressure and sprint as fast for as long as Winx is capable.