TWO GOOD! Zahra wins back-to-back Melbourne Cups on Without a Fight as three horses pull up lame
Without a Fight completed the rare Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double on Tuesday as star jockey Mark Zahra went back-to-back in the big one after…
Racing fans never saw the mighty Winx at her best. Not by a mile.
Even Black Caviar was taken overseas and tested, and her legacy as a sprinter – despite the unconvincing performance in England – is more genuine than Winx as a middle distance/ miler.
At least Peter Moody and her owners had the guts to take her abroad.
When you own a wonder horse like Winx who captured the hearts of many Australians, it is not just your horse, the public owns her too.
The connections of Winx understood this too, but they erred in being too conservative.
Unless Winx was taken overseas to do battle with the best, it is unrealistic to say she was the best horse in the world.
Her multiple Group One victories against the Hartnells, Humidors and Happy Clappers of this world just don’t convince anyone that she was competing against the best.
All the best horses in the world travel to other countries to compete, as do our elite athletes in all sports.
For the past two or three years, her wins have been hollow – all small fields – which enabled her to sit a little wide but away from any interference and gradually wind up and wear down the leaders.
Most of her races were very similar.
It is sad that she was not challenged. She’d already been defeated as a three-year-old filly, so why not bite the bullet and send her overseas as a five- or six-year-old mare?
Would Australians have felt any less of her if she’d been beaten by a champion from Europe, Japan or America?
And who knows, she may well have won.
Racing fans would have loved to see her her race in the Arc.
But unfortunately the connections chose the soft option.
It could have been a fantastic opportunity to showcase Australia’s thoroughbred talent to the world.
But the provincial attitude prevailed amongst connections and they made the wrong choice.
But I doubt they’ll never let us know.
The myth must prevail.
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