Winx is set to shine at Randwick on Saturday
Despite all the glitz and glamour that surrounds Winx when she races, the mare is a no-frills horse.
Her trainer Chris Waller is happy to let her gallop in front of television crews as he did this week in the lead-up to Saturday’s Chipping Norton Stakes at Randwick.
But when her work is done and Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman front the cameras to again talk about her talent, Winx is taken back to her stall to continue her normal routine along with the many horses in Sydney’s premier stable.
“We try not to fuss over her,” Waller said.
“She doesn’t really like it. She has her routine like the other horses.”
But Winx is not like the other horses in the stable. She is the world’s best horse on turf and the reigning Australian champion.
She hasn’t been beaten since she ran second in the 2015 Australian Oaks and is aiming for her 15th successive win and 10th at Group One level in the Chipping Norton (1600m).
Winx is at $1.10 to beat Hartnell who is an $8 chance with the rest of the field at $71 and longer.
In five meetings, the closest Australia’s second highest-ranked horse Hartnell has got to Winx was his 2-3/4 lengths second in the Apollo Stakes last Monday week.
And his trainer John O’Shea is not predicting an upset on Saturday.
“We just want him to have a good, positive day and hit the line hard,” O’Shea said.
“And when he gets to the Ranvet in three weeks and moves up to 10 furlongs at Rosehill I’m sure he’ll be very effective.”
While Hartnell will step up to the 2000 metres of the Ranvet Stakes after the Chipping Norton, Winx will go back to the 1500 of the George Ryder Stakes on March 18 before the pair meet again in the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes on April 8.
Winx’s four-race autumn campaign has been carefully planned and her preparation has been faultless.
“She put on a couple of kilos after the Apollo,” Waller said.
“She is 98 per cent fit so she has a little in reserve but is pretty much there.
“It’s just a question of maintaining that and that’s my job.”
