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The reign of Winx continued on Saturday. Long may she live.
To win three Cox Plates is rarefied air, as we know. Kingston Town was the first. Winx is the second. Both did them in consecutive years, asserting their dominance across three seasons.
But the way Winx has gone about her victories puts her ahead of Kingston Town.
In 2015, her first Cox Plate win, she broke the race and track record.
In 2016, she set a record Cox Plate winning margin of eight lengths.
This year, she broke the race and track record once more.
It’s an extraordinary set of results, that can brook no argument as to Winx’s place in the pantheon of Australian greats. This is not just a racing event to be admired. It’s a sporting event to be celebrated.
Yes, the track was playing fast on Saturday. There was also a rail bias, similar to the one she took advantage of in her first Cox Plate win. But this was a win for the ages.
Let’s make no mistake – this was not Hugh Bowman’s prettiest ride. But aesthetics were not his charter on Saturday. Winning was.
The inside was the place to be, as every jockey knew by race 9 at Moonee Valley. For evidence of this, just look at Damien Oliver’s 20 meeting suspension for desperately trying to get as close to the rail as he could on Happy Clapper, with three-year-old Royal Symphony copping the worst of it.
Bowman would not get trapped on the inside though. He was three wide around the first turn, and didn’t get until at least 400m had been run. He was ensuring he stayed on outside, backing his superstar mare to beat them all on merit, and not risking getting trapped chasing the better ground.
Bowman also peeled out earlier than any other, about halfway through the race. He came three wide before any of his rivals. Usually, in a Cox Plate, this is a panic move, as riders with itchy fingers don’t want to miss the boat.
For Bowman though, this was to once again ensure Winx had clean air, not wanting something like Happy Clapper or Royal Symphony to make the earlier move and trap him in.
The mare moved up gradually, through the 600m, and was basically in front with two furlongs to run. Most expected her to explode away at this point, running her opposition ragged. To most of them, she did.
But, the greatest moments in sport are the ones we don’t expect. One horse was in the midst of springing a surprise. Matt Hill was dropping rehearsed lines left, right and centre, but this one wasn’t over.
(Photo: AAP)
Humidor was the only other genuine WFA middle distance horse in the field, so it shouldn’t have been a shock that he might be the one to test her. He had been Winx’d in the Turnbull Stakes, but had more things in his favour this time around.
He hadn’t spent one penny in the run, and had the benefit of the rail, where the pristine ground was, the entire race. Winx had covered far more ground.
Humidor also had Winx giving him the perfect trail into the race. It was an inch-perfect ride from Blake Shinn.
Humidor was trying to reel her in, and never gave up the ghost. He’s a serious racehorse, and was taking ground off the superstar mare for almost the entire straight, save for the last two or three strides when the champion found something as all champions do.
What was supposed to be a benediction turned into a war, and the crowd’s celebrations were all the more raucous because of it, when Winx emerged victorious.
To have broken the track record off the back of an ugly ground and almost certainly covering more ground than any rival, was astonishing. All we can do is watch in awe.
Chris Waller, Hugh Bowman and all involved were to be commended for the work they had done to promote the horse, the race, and the Melbourne spring.
The Cox Plate is usually the perfect entrée to Melbourne Cup week. This time, it was the main course.