The team associated with Winx has used the week leading up to the race named in her honour to provide an update on her condition as she nears the final stages of her pregnancy.
Just days out from the running of the $750,000 Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick, a photo was posted on winxhorse.com.au showing the 11-year-old, who is in-foal to Pierro, in pristine condition in her Hunter Valley paddock.
It is an encouraging update given Winx lost her first foal, a filly by I Am Invincible, two years ago when in the final stages of her term.
“We get regular updates and photographs…she couldn’t be any healthier and we’re really looking forward to the next six or eight weeks or whenever it is that we get a little baby foal,” part-owner Pete Tighe said.
Winx, a daughter of Street Cry and Vegas Showgirl (Al Akbar), was given 12 months to recover from the ordeal of her first crack at motherhood and on October 17 last year was covered by Pierro at Coolmore.
The gestation period for a horse is between 11 and 12 months, meaning Winx could give birth any time from the second half of September.
Once she has, attention will turn to who the 25-time Group 1 winner will visit next, but Tighe said the experience of her first pregnancy meant he and co-owner Debbie Kepitis were not thinking too far into the future with Winx.
“We’ll just wait to get a nice, healthy foal first and look at it then,” Tighe told Sky Racing.
“It’s totally about Winx. She’s got to be happy and healthy and in the right condition, then we would look at a stallion for the next season.
“It’s entirely up to what the vets tell us and how healthy she is at the time. I’m just waiting to see this foal come along and then we’ll worry about that next.”
