IS WINX THE REAL DEAL?
The character flaws in some of Australia’s cricket stars have been brutally exposed this year, but there is one Aussie sporting icon with a reputation as blemish free as her racing record.
If Winx can triumph in the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley tomorrow she will notch up an incredible 29th consecutive win.
Victory would also make the seven-year- old mare the first horse to win the Cox Plate, one of Australia’s most prestigious races, four times.
having already won close to £11million in prizemoney, the slice she would earn of the £1.7m on offer would make her the highest earning racehorse in history.
Winx fever is sweeping Australia. The Herald Sun, Melbourne’s biggest selling newspaper, this week carried a pull-out for fans to pin on the wall. The poster girl of Australian racing, who is trained by Chris Waller and ridden in nerveless hold-up style Plate, but that was before the Aidan O’Brien colt had reached his peak.
Tomorrow, however, there is the chance to measure Winx against two solid northern hemisphere yardsticks. her seven opponents include O’Brien’s Ryan Mooreridden Irish Derby second Rostropovich and Saeed Bin Suroor’s Benbatl.
The latter, the mount of Oisin Murphy, was beaten just over five lengths behind John Gosden’s Roaring Lion when fifth in York’s International Stakes but has won Group One races this year in Dubai, Germany and, most recently, Australia.
Waller, unmoved by the criticism, said: ‘You don’t win 28 races in a row just by being well trained and well ridden. You need something exceptional and she’s that.
‘It’s a feeling like I’ve never had before training a horse and I’ve had a lot of nice horses. It will take a champion to beat her or the bounce of the ball to go against her. Australia sees Winx as a sporting icon, a sporting hero, not just a racehorse.’
Dominic Gardiner- hill, the BhA’s senior handicapper, is one european on Winx’s side, rating her the current equivalent of last Saturday’s Champion Stakes winner Cracksman.
he said: ‘Any horse who has won 28 consecutive races has to be an outstanding racehorse. I can see the argument some people are making but sometimes you have to look beyond the pure maths. Those who look at sectional timings and finishing splits tell me she is an absolute freak.’
A win for Winx tomorrow will be racing history. Let’s hope she can also supply the evidence the form sceptics crave.