Tucked away from the packed crowd, Chris Waller has watched the best horse he will ever train do what no other has done before.
Waller watched Saturday’s Cox Plate from the same spot he has for Winx’s three previous wins in Australasia’s weight-for-age championship, in the weighing area on a TV screen.
“I’m a bit different. I just like to watch it on my own,” Waller said.
“A lot of emotions go through you.”
And the race panned out almost as perfectly as Waller could have hoped apart from Winx being a little wide early before tucking in to a good spot.
With a fourth Cox Plate in the mare’s keeping as she raced clear in the straight, Waller got to relax a little and savour the closing stages.
“The last 100 metres was pretty good,” he said.
“I shook (racing manager) Charlie Duckworth’s hand 50 metres short of the post.”
Waller then made his way out to the front of the grandstands and admitted the crowd reaction to champion Winx’s victory was something he will carry with him forever.
“That’s why I’m emotional. It’s pretty surreal,” he said.
“We’ve just treated it like another race. But obviously it was a bit bigger.
“It’s such a special place to be and to win four Cox Plates, I hadn’t even thought about doing it, let alone today.”
Winx became the only four time winner of the Cox Plate and stretched her winning sequence to 29 races, 22 at Group One level.
“She’s the greatest that I’ll ever have anything to do with,” Waller said.
