As Winx’s winning streak grows, her starting price shrinks.
But the champion mare will be oblivious when she tries to win her 11 consecutive race at the shortest price throughout her career in the Group Two Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick.
Winx started $1.24 favourite when she won the Warwick Stakes first-up and is the $1.15 to win the Chelmsford on Saturday.
Trainer Chris Waller doesn’t care about bookmakers’ assessments.
“Winx can’t read and I don’t need to read,” Waller said.
“My job is to keep her happy and get her to the race as well as I can.”
Winx galloped at Rosehill on Tuesday morning and will have another light hit-out on Thursday.
“It’s all maintenance now,” Waller said.
“Now that she’s had that first-up run, she is fit.”
Winx returned to racing with an emphatic win in the Warwick Stakes at Randwick on August 20, a race Waller said gave him a vital gauge on her fitness.
“The Warwick Stakes was the important race because it told us where she was,” Waller said.
Her only Chelmsford rival under double-figure odds is Prized Icon – the James Cummings-trained three-year-old – at $8.
Waller said he respected the opposition, which was likely to include five of Winx’s stablemates, but three-year-old’s had historically struggled to overcome older horses in the race.
“It’s a hard race for three-year-olds to win,” Waller said.
“They have run well in it but not many can win.”
Mighty Kingdom was the last three-year-old to win the race in 1979.
Rain is expected to increase in Sydney as the week wears on but it’s unlikely to prevent Winx starting.
“There would have to be a thunderstorm five minutes before the race to pull her out,” Waller said.
The Chelmsford will be Winx’s final start at Group Two level before the campaign switches to top-line racing in the Group One George Main Stakes at Randwick on September 17.
That will be her final run in Sydney before travelling to Melbourne for the Caulfield Stakes, which will be her final start before the preparation climaxes with her Cox Plate defence.
