Winx goes for 4-peat in Cox Plate
Trainer Chris Waller all but rules out a Makybe Diva-like retirement
The Cox Plate will almost certainly be the last time she’ll race in Melbourne, but the extraordinary story of Winx still has no end date with her trainer Chris Waller all but ruling out a Makybe Diva-like post-race retirement today.
Makybe Diva’s owner and breeder Tony Santic shocked the racing world by ending the racing career of the then seven-year-old just minutes after the mare became the first three-time winner of the Melbourne Cup in 2005, but Waller hosed down any such thoughts on the eve of Winx’s run for history at The Valley.
“We haven’t spoken about it (retirement) which gives you a pretty good guide that I don’t think there will be any decisions made tomorrow,” said Waller, reports Racing.com. “Yes, she has nothing left to prove. “But while she’s fit and racing well, in our minds, she’s missed the breeding season because you are going to get a late foal and it’s not giving her a good start sending her straight to a stallion.
“So, therefore there’s no rush. “The only thing I ever consider is safety. Like every racehorse, when they go out to the races, there’s that element of risk and that’s why our horses are checked by the vets every day. Not just Winx. And I think the safety of racing has gone up a whole new level.
“Horses get struck by lightning in paddocks. They get bitten by snakes and they go through fences, so I really think it comes down to the horse and her form and the feedback from what I am getting from my key staff.
“What Hugh (Bowman) is telling me, what the owner wants. I am a coach, I am manager of fitness and making sure the horse is running well.”
Waller reiterated that he could not have wished for a more trouble-free run through her campaign and said he will not have presented Winx in better order when she parades before the A$5 million race.
“I think she’s better than her first two (Cox Plate wins) because of her size and strength,” he said. “The first one, she was a four-year-old but she was tiny. The next one she was obviously a bit stronger and the third one, despite it being a smaller margin, she did break the track record again.
”You have to respect Humidor and Darren Weir peaking horses on the day as you do of every horse in the race.” He said the least of his worries will be Winx’s rider Bowman getting carried away. “When she goes on the track the crowd will roar but he won’t even hear it,” Waller said. “He’ll be that zoned-in on making sure that all those people are getting what they are there to see.”