The return of the mighty mare Winx strikes this weekend, as trainer Chris Waller kicks off her spring campaign in the Warwick Stakes.
She’s resuming a few weeks earlier than she did last spring, when she had a light, three-run preparation, culminating in that dominant Cox Plate win which still stands as her marquee performance, even despite the lightning rail track bias that day.
Winx raced deep into the Queensland autumn as a staying three-year-old in 2015, but this time around she will be coming off the longest break she’s had since her debut back in June 2014.
Chris Waller and his mare have been the subject of some controversy in recent days, given that Winx went in for bone chip removal surgery after her Doncaster Mile win, but the news only surfaced from Racing NSW last week.
Still, all of these factors shouldn’t be enough to stop the champion mare from recording her tenth win on end.
She is the undoubted queen of the track right now, but is the queen regent of Randwick, given that after Saturday exactly half of her starts will have been at the track.
She’s won the Doncaster, Epsom and Chipping Norton there, as well as the Apollo Stakes and Theo Marks, plus the Furious Stakes as a precocious filly.
Winx’s main rival in the Warwick Stakes, and potentially come Cox Plate day in October, is the country’s second best mare Lucia Valentina.
Her dominant Queen Elizabeth win in the autumn stamped her as indisputably top class, to go with earlier career Group 1s like the Turnbull Stakes and Vinery Stud Stakes, as well as placings in the ATC Oaks and Caulfield Cup.
Lucia Valentina’s first-up stats only say two wins from six starts, but she is usually on the heels of the placegetters in big fields, most often putting in the run of the race if not the run of the day. She’ll be sprinting hard at the end.
Rebel Dane is the only genuine sprinter in the field, and he’s a good one, which gives him a fluker’s hope of causing a boil-over if there is to be one. Connections ought to have a throw at the stumps and send him forward to see if he can cause any damage, see if he can be too speedy for them, even though he’s at his best when saved for one run.
Hartnell is a year and a half clear of his best form now, so needs to put some writing on the wall if he’s going to be a player this spring. Vanbrugh put together three wins on end in his three-year-old spring, including the Spring Champion, but didn’t do anything of note in the autumn, and gets a chance to start again this prep.
Who Shot Thebarman and Grand Marshall are old foes that have their eyes on longer races, where they’ll be competitive once again. They’d need a murderous speed here and the race appears to lack genuine pace. Hugh Bowman may even roll to the lead on her.
Selections: 1. Winx 2. Lucia Valentina 3. Rebel Dane 4. Who Shot Thebarman
Around the traps: Dixie Blossoms might be the good thing of the day in the Toy Show Quality at Randwick, after coming along so far in her first prep and trialling like a coming winner.
Down at Moonee Valley, Zamzam looks a nice price just above the each-way cut in Race 4. She showed her quality with a Blue Diamond placing in the autumn, and is the only one in the field to have won at the Valley, which she’s done twice from two starts there.
Rose’s Roughie: Celeritas enjoyed getting back on a good track at Caulfield last time, and has an affinity for Moonee Valley, particularly the 1200m course. She races well as she gets into her prep, and is ready to win fourth-up now. Look for her at big odds in Race 3.
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