Mighty mare Winx too good for Turnbull rivals

[Hogg]

THE fleeting spectre of Turnbull Stakes disaster averted, Chris Waller has declared Winx on target for an unmatched fourth Cox Plate triumph.

Relieved and jubilant after the champion secured a 28th successive victory and 21st Group 1 after Hugh Bowman steered Winx to a dramatic win, Waller lavished praise on horse and rider.

Reacting to the whispers of disbelief that turned to anguished murmurs from punters as Winx’s Flemington farewell threatened to morph into a nightmare, Waller said the wonder mare was exactly where she needs to be for the Cox Plate.

“She’s fit. Today was a gallop for the Cox Plate in three weeks’ time,” Waller said after Winx posted her 32nd win from 37 starts, boosting her earnings to $19,884,920.

“She’ll just chill out now, just have a pretty easy time. Me staying away from her is a good start.

“We’ll join up later in the week and start to work out maintenance, really.

“As much as training Winx is to hold her form it’s training Winx to stay safe.

“We’re in safe mode now and it’s a good place to be.”

As rival trainers and jockeys were left incredulous by Winx’s paralysing acceleration to charge from ninth at the 400m to beat stablemate Youngstar by a length, with Kings Will Dream third, Waller defended Bowman’s ride.

“It was a picture-perfect Hugh Bowman ride,” Waller said, icily immune to the palpable late-race tension.

“We were relying on a bit of luck and the gaps came.

“She had a bit of ground to make up but we are at Flemington. It allows her to get through her gears.

“You get a few flutters but once she gets clear running, what will be, will be.

“There will be a day when she’s not as dominant but all she has to do is repeat her form.

“Hughie rightfully went through the gears.

“The way he rode her was perfect. You go to apprentices’ school and every apprentice would turn out to be a genius if you rode like that.

“It’s Flemington. He got out with 400m to run.”

For all its space, Flemington has often been the graveyard of champions.

David Hayes has seen plenty of horses hug the fence at Headquarters, waiting for runs which never materialise.

For much of the 121 seconds of the Turnbull, Winx’s positioning was problematic.

Ultimately, she made it look easy - albeit hair-raising.

Lashed on social media and reprimanded by stewards for his losing ride on Ranier earlier in the day, Bowman admitted “I wasn’t where I hoped I would be during the race” as the opposition turned the race into a sit-sprint.

“I didn’t have many choices in among that. It is a horse race after all,” he said.

“But her champion quality shone once again. It wasn’t my ideal plan to come through the middle of them.

“But when the pressure went on about the 650m she was left a little flat-footed, because of the slow pace, and I was looking to come to the outside of Grunt, but he couldn’t keep up.

“I’d already sacrificed probably two and a half lengths trying to get to his outside, when I realised he was out of business and that left me probably four to five lengths to the pack.

“I just let her pick up herself and get through her gears. Once I was at the back of Youngstar I was supremely confident to be honest. It was just that little period through the 500m mark where the race had got away from me.

“That’s why she is so good. She overcomes everything.”

Waller has always maintained race pressure is what allows Winx to dominate.