Before the biggest Royal Randwick crowd in years on Saturday, Winx continued her famous winning streak that stretches two years as she romped home with the Gr1 $4 million Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
Winx – unstoppable
Sydney’s super mare is seemingly invincible and at Royal Randwick on Saturday she completed her second perfect season.
Her trainer, Chris Waller can be excused for being emotional after the race and he summed up the mood best when he said: “She is doing great things for the sport and people will remember her for the rest of their lives.’’
Chris Waller – ‘Winx doing great things for the sport’
Waller also picked up on the theme, “She’s had another perfect preparation, she makes everything look perfect though,’’ he said.
“She makes me look like a genius, Hughie (Bowman) does a great job. It was Hugh Bowman at his very best. He’s definitely part of Winx, what he has done with this mare is very special.
“But the story should be all about Winx. Everywhere she goes now people follow her and it’s very heartwarming. It is a privilege to train such a champion.’’
Winx scored her 17th win in succession as she romped home more than five lengths clear of her old rival, Hartnell with Sense Of Occasion a long neck away third.
Winx brought 26 801 to Randwick on Saturday, the biggest crowd at the track in the modern era and eclipsing the 25 535 which saw Black Caviar win her 25th and final race in the 2013 TJ Smith Stakes.
Hugh Bowman – was aboard Winx again
Bowman gave Winx a faultless ride, settling one off the fence with cover midfield then taking her wide from the 600m to avoid trouble. It was a procession from that point and the records tumbled as she opened up a margin on her chasing rivals including:
Her 17 consecutive wins leaves her trailing only Black Caviar (25 wins), Gloaming and Desert Gold (19) and Ajax (18) for the longest winning streaks.
She has now won 12 Gr1 races during her winning run and she is closing in on Black Caviar’s all-time record of 15 majors.
Her prizemoney was boosted by the $2.340,000 first prizemoney cheque and takes her career earnings to $12,708,930, the second highest of all time behind Makybe Diva on $14,526,900.
In winning here, she scored her sixth Gr1 success of the season, equalling the records of Kingston Town ((1979-80), Weekend Hussler (2007-08) and Black Caviar (2010-11) for most majors in a racing year.
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