Trainer Chris Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman reveal what makes Winx so great
WHAT separates the good racehorses from the great ones? Trainer Chris Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman give their insights into why Winx is simply the best.
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WHAT separates the good racehorses from the great ones?
Perhaps it is as simple as size, strength, speed and staying ability, or a combination of all four qualities. But this doesn’t explain why Winx is so superior to her opposition.
There are bigger horses than Winx. Stronger ones, too. There are faster sprinters and more stamina-laden stayers than the great mare.
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So, what is the indefinable attribute that sets Winx apart from the rest?
I interviewed Winx’s trainer Chris Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman separately when in London recently for the Longines World’s Best Racehorse awards and both men had a similar answer when asked what made the mare such an outstanding champion.
“What a lot of people don’t know about Winx is her determination — that is what makes her a great racehorse,’’ Waller said. “It is not what Chris Waller does, yes Hugh Bowman has done an amazing job riding her, but it is Winx’s determination that sets her apart.
“She has a lovely action and presence, but her will-to-win is incredible.
“In some races, she has been unlucky in the run, drawn wide, tested in all track conditions, but she has overcome all these issues and beaten some very good horses.’’
Bowman also spoke about Winx’s pure athletic ability and fierce desire to beat her rivals.
“She is so well-balanced, light on her feet, and she can accelerate very quickly,’’ Bowman said. “But it is her will-to-win and her determination that makes her so good. I’ve never ridden a horse like her.’’
Winx tends to beat her rivals so easily it is difficult to pinpoint one win or one race which underlines what Waller and Bowman are talking about.
However, Winx’s Doncaster Mile win last year is arguably the best example of her greatness.
She had to contend with a soft track, big weight (56.5kg), wide barrier (11) and an interrupted run after striking trouble between the 600m and 400m.
But Winx continued to weave through the field around the home turn, took a narrow gap between runners over the rise and raced to the lead in the Doncaster. It looked game over when suddenly Happy Clapper loomed up on her outside and threatened to make a race of it.
If you watch the replay closely, I swear Winx turns her head, notices Happy Clapper and suddenly accelerates again, racing clear for a famous two-length win.
So, the stage is set for Winx’s return in the Group 2 $250,000 Apollo Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on Monday. She has won 13 races in succession, has been unbeaten for nearly two years, and is rated the world’s best racehorse on turf.
It would be incongruous to suggest Sydney’s super mare, a rising six-year-old, is still improving — or is it?
Bowman stopped short of declaring the mare is better than ever but he pointed out she is now at the peak of her physical development.
“At five years of age, I would not say her best is ahead of her but I would say she is in her prime,’’ Bowman said.
Bowman also confirmed Winx was a better horse last year than she was when winning her first Cox Plate in 2015.
“Winx ran the fastest Cox Plate in history and broke the track record two years ago but she beat what I feel was a better field last year and beat them by a record margin (eight lengths),’’ Bowman said.
What is in indisputable is that Winx has produced a new career-best effort in each of her last three preparations.
Form guru Gary Crispe said Winx has managed to continually improve her Timeform rating over the past two years.
“Winx only puts in an ‘Everest’ performance once in a campaign and that is when she is racing in her ‘grand final’,’’ Crispe said.
“She usually cruises through to win her lead-up races but in the 2015 Cox Plate, she went to a new peak rating of 126.
“In the Doncaster Mile last year, she lifted her rating to 128 and then in the Cox Plate last spring, she went to 133. If you look at her recent Cox Plate win, it is not unreasonable to say she could improve that rating again but it will depend on the quality of opposition and how she progresses.
“Her rating of 133 already puts her in very elite company. She is the second-highest rated mare ever in this part of the world behind only Black Caviar on 136. Black Caviar won 25 races but she only went to 136 once, in the Lightning Stakes. The only other mares to get to 136 were the great European mares Allez France and Habibti.’’
Bowman admitted he didn’t initially recognise Winx’s emerging champion qualities.
In fact, Bowman revealed prior to Winx’s first Cox Plate win in 2015, he was considering whether to ride the mare or stablemate Preferment in that race.
The jockey decided to stay with Winx, reasoning that if Preferment was to win the Cox Plate, he might do so by a narrow margin but the mare was capable of winning the race more easily.
Bowman was right, Winx romped home by five lengths and the mare’s greatness was born.
“Even leading into that Cox Plate, she had won the Epsom Handicap in significant style but I still felt she wasn’t at a level she is now,’’ Bowman said. “But when she won the first Cox Plate she proved to me she was a genuine top flight mare.
“What she has been able to do in the last 12 months or since that win has shown the world and everyone interested in racing that she is a very special racehorse.’’
QUEEN OF THE TURF
WINX
Record: 23 starts; 17-3-0. Prizemoney: $9,348,175
Trainer: Chris Waller. Jockey: Hugh Bowman
Group 1 wins: 9 (Cox Plate x2, Doncaster Mile, Epsom Hcp, George Ryder Stks, Chipping Norton Stks, George Main Stks, Caulfield Stks, Queensland Oaks)
Hot streak: She has won her past 13 starts.
Last defeat: 2nd G1 Australian Oaks (11th April, 2015)
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