Trainer Chris Waller says Winx could have won The Everest

Trainer Chris Waller is convinced if he had prepared mighty mare Winx for The TAB Everest she would have beaten the world’s best sprinters, despite not favouring the distance.

Trainer Chris Waller is convinced if he had prepared mighty mare Winx for The TAB Everest she would have beaten the world’s best sprinters.

This is some statement as Winx did not contest a race as short as 1200m – the distance of The Everest – in the last 37 races of her extraordinary race career.

Winx was kept to a distance range of between 1400m to 2040m and won 33 races in succession to close out her career, including a world record 25 at Group 1 level.

But Waller maintains Winx had the versatility and sheer speed to win The Everest, the world’s richest race on turf.

“I do believe that she could have won an Everest,’’ said Waller in an exclusive interview for The Daily Telegraph’s documentary, The Race.

Hugh Bowman and Winx win their fourth Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.

“I also believe a horse like (English champion) Frankel would’ve won an Everest. Black Caviar would’ve won several and as would’ve a lot of the other great horses.

“What separates those elite horses is their ability to perform under pressure. The Everest brings that out in horses.’’

The Everest’s inaugural running in 2017 came at the height of Winx’s dominance and Waller was training the mare primarily for two 2000m weight-for-age races each year, the Cox Plate in spring which she won four times from 2015-18 and her three successive Queen Elizabeth Stakes between 2017-19.

But The Everest has quickly established itself as the world’s premier sprint and if Winx was racing today, Waller would have been tempted to set his champion mare for the $20 million race at Royal Randwick.

Chris Waller with Winx and her filly.

“I think we’re learning that it’s everybody’s target (race),’’ Waller said.

Waller, who has already prepared two winners of The Everest with champion sprinter Nature Strip (2021) and crack three-year-old Yes Yes Yes (2019), will have two runners in next week’s race – Golden Slipper-winning colt Shinzo and top mare Espiona.

“It’s a stallion-making race because it’s fast, it’s what the breeders want, it’s what sells horses,’’ Waller said of The Everest.

“So, from a colt’s perspective, it’s a logical target, but they’ve got to be coming up well. They’ve also got to be ready and seasoned enough to race the older horses. We saw that with Yes Yes Yes.

“The Everest is a tough 1200m, it’s probably more like a 1400m race, but it brings out the best in horses.’’

Chris Waller will be hoping to win his third Everest next weekend.

Shinzo, who ran unplaced when resuming in the Golden Rose over 1400m last month, pleased Waller in a crucial barrier trial at Rosehill two days ago, persuading the trainer and the colt’s owners, Coolmore, to press on with their The Everest ambitions.

“The 1400m lead-up is good for a tough 1200m,’’ Waller said.

“If you are not ready to run a strong 1200m, you won’t compete in The Everest, you won’t be there in the finish.

“It’s hard to explain but I don’t think horses go that speed under that pressure (in The Everest) like they do in any other race.

“This is a $20 million race…that creates pressure, that creates speed, and that creates the best horse winning the race.’’

Originally published as Trainer Chris Waller says Winx could have won The Everest