Winx
Australian super horse Winx has well and truly established herself as racing’s greatest show on turf, thrilling fans with another dominant win in the Gr1 $600,000 TAB Chipping Norton Stakes run over 1600m at a wet Royal Randwick on Saturday.
This was Winx’ second consecutive victory in the Chipping Norton and her tenth Gr1 success.
But it almost never happened…
Racetrack rumour had trainer Chris Waller ready to scratch the champion mare due to the rain-sodden heavy Randwick track surface. It was only after the race that Waller revealed how close he came to asking stewards permission to withdraw Winx.
“I didn’t want to let the public down, and I didn’t want to let Winx down,’’ Waller said.
“I was so close to scratching her but we made the right decision. I walked the track before the race and it looked pretty good to me. It was safe and that was my main concern.
Chris Waller – ‘race was a blur’
“There was so much bit of expectation to run her — I didn’t want to see tomorrow’s newspaper if I didn’t run her.”
Waller will be happy to read the Sunday papers and take in another unforgettable effort by Winx because the trainer admitted the race was a blur.
“In fact, her whole career has been like that really, I will have to watch the replay tonight,’’ he said. “But I am so proud of her. She is a beautiful mare. She can’t do much more than what she is doing. She is getting the respect she deserves and you can’t ask for much more than that.”
She has now beaten the legendary Phar Lap’s unbeaten 14 run sequence.
