WITH NO PEER IN AUSTRALIA, interest was continuing to build to see Winx conquer foreign fields, especially at Royal Ascot in the northern summer. For once, many of her fans would be disappointed.
Four days after the Ryder Stakes, Chris Waller announced the expected grand adventure would not take place. Winx would stay home, most likely to aim for a stunning, near ridiculous, fourth Cox Plate.
Despite Waller’s previously aired apprehensions about transporting the mare to Europe, the news surprised many, such as the travel companies who’d already advertised Royal Ascot packages framed around Winx’s probable presence.
Europe had seemed a natural next step in many regards. Granted, the prizemoney would not be as strong as in Australia, but to become a major race winner in both hemispheres would have been another indisputable claim to greatness, while also emulating the deeds of Black Caviar and Phar Lap.
While opting out may have disappointed the romantics, the sorely tempted Waller and Winx’s owners had their sound reasons, centring on the wellbeing of the horse herself.
Waller had spoken before of the ‘six months of jet lag’ problem with switching hemispheres on any gender of horse, let alone a mare. It was a more serious undertaking for a female, because of the effect on female hormones of being plucked from a natural winter and dropped into a northern summer. (That effect also helps explain why the overwhelming majority of European raiders for the Melbourne spring carnival are male.)
Granted, Australian females Black Caviar and Miss Andretti had gone to Royal Ascot and won, but Waller had also remarked on how the former had nearly been beaten, while the latter was an abject failure in her follow-up Ascot run.
The risk/reward factor was doubtless in the minds of all in Team Winx. For a stallion, winning in two hemispheres will greatly boost his value at stud, where he might sire a hundred foals a year. For a mare, who can still only have one foal a year at best, the increase in value would be minimal.
Thus, the racing world would have to accept that one of its greatest performers would compete in one country only — a disappointment for some, but a relief for those contemplating pitfalls.
‘The Royal Ascot carnival is one of the greatest in the world and would provide Winx the opportunity to be showcased on a global stage,’ Waller said via press release. ‘As a group, we have all held ambitions to travel horses internationally and it has been our dream to have a horse race in front of Her Majesty the Queen at Royal Ascot; however, this decision is not about us and must be based on the best interests of Winx.
‘Winx is now the winner of twenty-eight races, twenty-four of those wins at consecutive starts and seventeen of those at Group 1 level. She has won on tracks rated from fast to heavy and over distances ranging from 1100 metres to 2200 metres; she has taken on all comers and won under Group 1 handicap, set weight and penalty, and weight-forage conditions. Winx has nothing to prove to anyone; she is and always will be regarded as a legend of the turf and it is champions like her that make up the fabric of this great sport.’
Queen Elizabeth would have to wait. In the meantime, a momentous occasion in the race named in her honour would be a sufficiently mouth-watering proposition.
***
Aside from those scares in the Warwick and Chelmsford stakes of 2017, Winx’s wins in the second half of her sequence had begun to seem, if certainly not run of the mill, then at least par for the course.
Her attempt on successive win number twenty-five, however, would be special.
No one could miss the historical significance of Winx’s participation in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, on 14 April 2018. The $2.4-million first prize for winning the 2000-metre event would send her earnings spiralling to just a tick under $19 million, the eighth-highest in world history. Moreover, victory would match the streak Australian fans had never dreamed they’d see once, let alone again so soon — Black Caviar’s twenty-five straight.
As Waller, and others, had noted, there was a difference in that Peter Moody’s champion was undefeated. But that distinction would make Winx’s achievement no less phenomenal. In more than three centuries of organised thoroughbred racing worldwide, twenty-five successive wins had been achieved by only six horses. And, Black Caviar aside, the other five carried question marks to varying degrees.
Top of the list is Kincsem, another mare, who won all fifty-four of her starts. Never going anywhere without her beloved stable cat, Kincsem won from 1000 to 4000 metres, including a Goodwood Cup in England, a Grand Prix de Deauville in France, and five important races in Austria and Germany. She did, however, compete in the 1870s, and mostly in her native Hungary. The calibre of much of her opposition may be doubtful, though it’s probably churlish to find fault. She was clearly in the ‘freak’ category, regardless of when and where she was born.
The remaining four are more open to question, all of them having been big fish in the tiny racing pond of Puerto Rico. Camarero holds the world streak record, having won the first fifty-six of his seventy-seven races in the 1950s. How Waller or Moody might have felt after start fifty-seven had they been his trainer!
Then there was Cofresi, with forty-nine straight in the 1930s; Condado with forty-four on end, also in the ’30s; and Galgo Jr., with thirty-nine straight in the 1920s and ’30s. Considering Cofresi won 119 races in total, Condado 151 and Galgo Jr. 136, it’s safe to keep them far away from any serious list featuring names like Winx, Black Caviar, and, for that matter, Kincsem.
For Winx and Black Caviar to go so long unbeaten in the highly competitive world of modern racing is something that will deservedly draw gasps from fans of the sport for many decades to come.
***
Ahead of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Hugh Bowman, cleared to ride after missing the previous Saturday with another health scare — first thought to be lingering concussion, but later diagnosed as a virus — was probed for yet more insight into the flying mare. His mind turned to seagulls.
‘When I galloped her at Flemington before the Turnbull Stakes, there was a huge flock of seagulls in the straight,’ he said. ‘She got to within a couple of metres of a few of them, but she had her head down.’
The gulls took flight. Winx didn’t change stride.
‘Most horses, I’d say ninety-five per cent in that circumstance, would hesitate and baulk. She went through them as if they weren’t there. It’s an advertisement for how focused she is as an athlete and it’s one of the attributes that makes her so special.’1
There was also keen interest from abroad in Winx. She was still the equal-top-rated horse in the world on the April set of the World Thoroughbred Rankings, unchanged on a 129 rating after the George Ryder. Drawing more criticism of the rankings, however, was the fact Gun Runner still shared the lead, despite having been retired to stud several weeks earlier.
Aside from respect, some parochialism reared its head amid the overseas interest in Winx. Some in the U.K. saw the decision to bypass Royal Ascot as a reason to doubt her class. In the U.S., perhaps soured by past Australian aspersions towards Arrogate, the influential Paulick Report website decried the strength of Winx’s opposition in her recent runs.2
In an interview with Britain’s Sun newspaper, Bowman hit back with a comparison both sides of the Atlantic could understand. ‘To anyone open-minded, it is clear she’s one of the best out there. She beat Highland Reel nearly six lengths in the 2015 Cox Plate. People seem to forget that,’ he said, recalling Aidan O’Brien’s champion who’d since taken five Group 1s in England, the U.S. and Hong Kong.3
The foreign rumblings were no real distraction to the heady celebration looming on one of the biggest days of the Australian turf. The meeting featured four Group 1s: the Queen Elizabeth, Sydney Cup and Coolmore Legacy, and the Australian Oaks, the race in which six-year-old Winx had last tasted defeat, as a three-year-old.
It was the day for Winx to match Black Caviar, and of course the comparisons came thick and fast. Peter Moody was asked to write a column for the Sydney Morning Herald. He congratulated Waller on how he’d handled the pressure, and was happy to report his great joy at watching Winx, which he could never feel watching Black Caviar.4
Like Luke Nolen in another piece of newspaper pondering, Moody refused to compare the two mares, with both jockey and trainer saying fans should simply celebrate — and revere — both.
‘Black Caviar and Winx are wonderful PR machines for racing jurisdictions,’ Nolen said. ‘The equine heroes of our game. We need them, and Winx has been great for our sport, like Black Caviar was.’
Opinions were sought from other riders who’d seen both queens pass by, on several spirit-sapping occasions.
‘I remember multiple times riding Group 1–winning sprinters against Black Caviar,’ said premiership-winning Melbourne rider Craig Williams. ‘You’d be thinking you had a length up your sleeve and Luke would come past on her with a throttle hold, and she was just doing it effortlessly. You just realised then how good she was and how good she was for racing.
‘It’s the same with Winx. For Winx to be doing what she’s doing now shows how well she’s been managed. If she competed against the world’s best horses to [2000 metres] on turf, I would be confident to say she would be beating them.’
Champion jockey Damien Oliver said both mares were blessed not only with great powers of acceleration but ‘sustained acceleration as well’. ‘Black Caviar made good horses look like average horses, and absolute champions have the ability to do that,’ he said. ‘Winx is the same. We’ve been lucky to have them.’5
The Herald Sun couldn’t resist posing the question: who would win over 1400 metres? Nolen stuck with his mare, Williams sat on the fence, Oliver favoured Black Caviar up to 1400 metres and Winx over longer. Timeform ratings setter Gary Crispe reckoned Black Caviar would prevail by half a length. A reader survey had it Black Caviar’s way, but only by fifty-five to forty-five per cent.6
Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph pointed out Timeform had given Black Caviar a peak rating of 136, to Winx’s 134. Form expert and former bookmaker Dominic Beirne referred to his meticulously kept ratings database. Averaging both mares’ highest-rating fifteen wins, he had Winx on top, nearly a length superior to Black Caviar.7
It was all wonderful grist for the hypothetical mill, made more intriguing by the fact both champions had so nearly raced at the same time, and had been witnessed by the same experts, whereas comparisons to the likes of Phar Lap, Carbine and Tulloch were harder.
But a more pressing and relevant concern was at hand. That possible twenty-fifth straight win still had to be achieved.
***
There were nine opponents for Winx in the Queen Elizabeth and, with no intention of building hype, Bowman said it could be her toughest test since her first Cox Plate.
Five would be taking her on for the first time. Craig Williams’ mount, Ambitious, had run an ominously strong second to Melbourne Cup winner Almandin in the Tancred Stakes at only his second run since transferring from Japan. Another six-year-old stallion, Success Days, had come from Ireland in quest of Sydney’s autumn riches. He had Joao Moreira on board and boasted a half-length second over 2000 metres at home in the previous northern summer to Johannes Vermeer, a subsequent star in the Australian spring with Caulfield and Melbourne cup placings.
In addition, Winx’s tried opponents were in dangerous form. Happy Clapper had tenaciously won the Doncaster since chasing Winx in the Ryder. Gailo Chop had won three of five in the autumn, including Rosehill’s Group 1 Ranvet Stakes over 2000 metres by three lengths. And the gelding who had almost thwarted Winx’s bid for a third Cox Plate, Humidor, was back for another shot, two starts after winning Flemington’s 1600-metre Blamey Stakes.
‘Usually there is one main horse to be focused on as opposition,’ Bowman said. ‘But this week there is three or four or maybe even five that are primed for their target. They are over a suitable distance and racing in the form of their lives.’
Still, while Bowman could hope for Gailo Chop to set a strong pace, he was understandably confident Winx could win regardless of tempo. ‘The quicker the race is run, the more comfortable it is for me because she relaxes very well,’ he said. ‘The more of a test it is, the better she performs, because her cruising speed is so much higher than any other horse that I’ve ever had anything to do with.
‘If they go fast from the outset, it really plays into her hands. However, if they don’t go fast and it develops into a sprint home, she is capable of overcoming that too.’
One Black Caviar comparison had touched on an issue bookmakers had mentioned, grievously, before: that despite her powers, Winx usually raced at comparatively luxurious odds compared to the great sprinter. If a punter had put $10 on Black Caviar at the start of her winning streak, and rolled it over each time through start twenty-five, the return would have been $3567.30. A $10 bet rolled over through Winx’s twenty-four straight wins would have netted $237,448.10.
The day before the Queen Elizabeth, the TAB did some sums to show Winx had been far more of a money-making machine for punters than Black Caviar. A total of $25 million had been wagered on Winx with the agency since her first race, more than double the $12.4 million taken on Black Caviar. The TAB had paid out $36.4 million on Winx, to just $14.3 million on the unbeaten sprinter. Winx had started $1.10 or shorter only four times, compared with eleven times for Peter Moody’s mare.
‘It’s amazing to think our customers have invested twice as much on Winx than Black Caviar, but when you look at the returns you see why,’ said the TAB’s Glenn Munsie. ‘[Black Caviar] was so short so often compared to the prices that Winx has started due to the races she ran in and the smaller fields that took her on.
‘Winx, on the other hand, has contested more open races, but also took a long while to totally dominate her opposition in the same type of races Black Caviar contested throughout her career.’8
Again, Winx would go to the post in the Queen Elizabeth at a short — but not Black Caviar-ish — price of $1.24. Happy Clapper was next at $11, with Humidor $14, Gailo Chop $26 and Ambitious $31.
The odds were still more incentive than deterrent to the ‘better than bank interest’ big players. The TAB reported one of its largest-ever bet on the mare, as one punter continued a dizzying autumn Winx romp. Having put $108,000 on her to make $6480 at $1.06 in the Chipping Norton, the punter parlayed the winnings with $114,000 to make $11,400 at $1.10 in the Ryder, before backing up again with $124,500 in the Queen Elizabeth at $1.18, standing to win $22,410.
Winx had dominated the media for days, including the front and back pages of Sydney’s newspapers on raceday. The Daily Telegraph captured the moment perfectly,9 with a sepia-toned front-page ‘poster’ resembling a paper from Phar Lap’s age, and heralding:
THE RECORD BREAKER
WINX
GREATEST OF ALL RACE HORSES
Our true blue hero carries the weight of history
Another bumper crowd of almost 26,000 flooded into Randwick to see the star attraction, with Winx flags and hats again catching the sunshine on an unseasonably warm April day. Kepitis was trackside with her family and another large entourage, as were Peter and Patty Tighe. Richard Treweeke was some ten kilometres away, counting down the minutes to the race amid the comforts of home. Kepitis, though shielded by her lucky dress, remained superstitious, recalling for the second year running that the Queen Elizabeth was a favourites’ graveyard that had done for her father’s pair Lonhro and Octagonal. But she was at least reassured by Winx drawing the outside barrier. About the only thing considered likely to beat her — bad luck in running — was out of the equation.
As 3.05 pm drew near, the expectation was enormous, not only at a fizzing Randwick, but in pubs, racetracks and lounge rooms across the country. As Australian sports fans recoiled from the infamous ball-tampering scandal engulfing the nation’s cricketers, the masses gathered to cheer their thoroughbred idol. Winx was cheered into the mounting yard by racegoers behind the grandstand. She was cheered again as she emerged from the tunnel, with Bowman aboard, to go onto the course. Channel 7 interrupted its coverage of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast to broadcast the race live on its main channel, in addition to the coverage from Randwick running all day on its secondary channel. At the Games, legendary broadcaster Bruce McAvaney paused his calling duties to watch Winx on a monitor (the footage of him doing so later going viral online), while many spectators also watched in the stands on their phones. From serious racing fans to casual observers swept up in her story, countless thousands tuned in to witness a signature moment from the equine wonder they’d already come to assume would always win, the mare who sat at the rear and rounded them up, the mare who was possibly the greatest racehorse they’d seen.
Finally, the race was underway. The field formed an arrow up Randwick’s Alison Road side, with Gailo Chop leading in the centre, Bowman taking Winx back from the outside gate, and Blake Shinn easing Humidor from barrier one. Settling down after 400 metres, Bowman was content to sit last some twelve lengths off the pace, behind Happy Clapper, with Humidor third-last on the rail.
With little movement over the back of the course, the race began to build towards a sprint home. Mark Zahra had set no great pace on Gailo Chop, leading Williams into an early dash from midfield on Ambitious at the 900. His move triggered several other jockeys to set out after the leader.
Still, most eyes were on the back of the field.
Bowman, sitting coolly, allowed Winx to stride to Happy Clapper’s outside before the 900, now eight lengths from the front. Soon, as the tempo quickened, she started building her pace. As the field began to bunch, a two-length gap behind third-last Humidor stayed in place till the 600, until Bowman let the mare advance, easily, to his outside. She was hitting top gear, the widest runner at seven-deep approaching the turn. And in a sight that had become so familiar and so cherished, she was running more smoothly, more powerfully, than anything else in the race. From the back, she began to claim her rivals, once more in the style that had become such compelling viewing through the past three years — that unique Winx blend of unfaltering menace and floating grace.
The crowd stood and roared as the field headed for home. Though Gailo Chop had much in reserve after the moderate early pace, Bowman had left nothing to chance. He was still ahead of only Humidor, but had ensured he had only four lengths to make on the leader past the 400. And while Happy Clapper was into clear running on the fence, it appeared a two-horse battle.
Gailo Chop gave a kick over the Randwick rise and, under urgent whip riding, was still three lengths clear of the mare. But it was soon afterwards, about the 340-metre mark, that Winx delivered her trademark winning blow, clicking into that higher stride rate, that irresistible rhythm. Watching the replay, it’s a trick best perceived, slightly oddly, if you focus on Gailo Chop. From the corner of the eye, set against the fast-moving field, you see the force of Winx explode.
Though she was still two lengths behind, Bowman gave one flick with the whip at the 300, and at the 220 Winx was in front. As the wonder mare now hit a blistering speed, the crowd, and half the nation, sat back to feast on more beautiful destruction — successive win twenty-five.
With a second whip reminder 150 metres out, Winx strode away for what, considering the opposition, was another of her most imperious displays, finishing three-and-three-quarter lengths ahead of Gailo Chop, with Happy Clapper and Humidor next home. Bowman stood high in his stirrups past the post, punching the air and letting loose a triumphal roar, ending with an affectionate pat on the neck of his beloved mare.
From that impossible Sunshine Coast Guineas win, through her Doncaster escape act, her awesome second Ryder Stakes, her Warwick Stakes near-catastrophe, her breathtaking three Cox Plates and eighteen other triumphs besides, Winx had made it, drawing level with one of the most captivating winning streaks of sporting history. Tantalisingly, just as she looked like she had more to give up the Randwick straight, it seemed certain she had more wins to come in the spring.
The emotions, understandably, overflowed. As Bowman gave Winx a lengthy honour parade before the rapturous grandstands, Waller fronted the media, again trying in vain to hold back tears. In a quote for the ages, he managed this: ‘How the hell does any horse win twenty-five in a row?’
‘It’s hard to find the right words, but that was very special,’ he added. ‘There was an arrogance about it. She keeps lifting for the big occasions.
‘We will never know how good she is, because she just had the best horses in Australia take her on and beat them like that.
‘We don’t need to take on the world. We know she is the best.’
After Treweeke’s son Rick had the honour of leading the mare in, an emotional Bowman paid tribute to the rest of Team Winx. He was reminded on days like these that his was usually the easy part.
‘The bottom line is she’s got ten to twelve lengths on her rivals. It makes it easy for me. I know I’ve got the engine to round them up,’ said Bowman, en route to a round of ecstatic bear hugs worthy of such a ‘grand final’ victory — from his wife, Christine; Waller; and almost anyone else in the vicinity of the weigh-out.
Looking at his mare admiringly, like the thousands around him, Bowman reflected, ‘She creates so much attention. I’m just so elated. I’m so proud of her and I’m just so proud to be a part of it.’
Debbie Kepitis let the jubilation run free, ending a live TV interview with a loud cry of ‘GOOOO WINXY!’
And even Peter Tighe, the blokey Queenslander, was shedding tears — or, as he described it, ‘doing a Chris Waller’. ‘She is the best horse in the world, ridden by the best jockey in the world, and trained by the best trainer in the world,’ he beamed.
As yet another thunderous ovation rang out for Australia’s horse, from the heights of the grandstand to the furthest corners of the paddock, as racing lovers, and even rival trainers and jockeys revelled in another virtuoso performance, and as the star herself exited the stage to end another perfect preparation, finding anyone to argue with Tighe’s assessment seemed an impossible ask.
As impossible as beating Winx.