Acid test of Winx’s champion qualities

WINX, the nation’s most exciting galloper, is reigniting an age-old debate — what defines a champion racehorse.

2015 Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley Racecourse, Race9- Cox Plate, Hugh Bowman onboard Winx after the win . Melbourne. 24th October 2015. Picture: Colleen Petch. Coxplate15

WINX, the nation’s most exciting galloper, is reigniting an age-old debate — what defines a champion racehorse.

The genesis for this story came with a phone call I received in the office earlier this week from a reader who berated me for describing Winx as “Sydney’s champion mare”.

“You use the word ‘champion’ too often and Winx hasn’t been around long enough to earn the right to be called a champion,’’ the caller said.

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Fair point — both of them. I am guilty of being overzealous at times when rating the best racehorses but it is not a unique malaise.

And Winx has only had 15 starts, winning nine races including three at Group 1 level.

But Winx’s form has improved exponentially as she has matured and the four-year-old mare goes into the Group 2 $250,000 Apollo Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday on the back of a five-race winning streak that has included her three majors — Queensland Oaks, Epsom Handicap and Cox Plate.

Each of those wins during this sequence which began with the Sunshine Coast Guineas and includes the Theo Marks Stakes has been outstanding, even freakish.

Her last-to-first charges in those two races were memorable, her Oaks win absolutely dominant, the ease of her Epsom effort was remarkable given she struck so much trouble on the home turn, and the runaway Cox Plate triumph was just extraordinary.

So when does an elite racehorse deserve acknowledgment as a champion and what is the criteria for that ultimate ranking?

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Certainly, longevity is important, but also consistent performances at the top level, the ability to easily defeat the best in training, a horse’s versatility and powers of acceleration are all hall marks of an elite thoroughbred.

Sky Thoroughbred Central’s Ron Dufficy stopped short of calling Winx a champion — yet.

“Everyone has their own opinion and I’ve called horses champions that aren’t champions but they are to me,’’ Dufficy said.

“As far as Winx is concerned, she needs to tick a few more boxes this autumn.

“Look, since the Sunshine Coast Guineas, she has been untouchable but you can’t just do it in one spring campaign. To be a champion, a horse has to back it up next campaign and keep doing it.

“It won’t be easy, especially with fillies and mares. I remember John Hawkes told me one day that with mares, one day you have them, the next day they are gone.’’

Dufficy feels if Winx can train on to win the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick during The Championships in April then the mare will deserve racing’s ultimate honour of champion status.

Hugh Bowman and Winx combine to win the Epsom Handicap at Royal Randwick in the early spring last year. Picture: Mark Evans

“Her greatest win so far was the Cox Plate where it looked a Kingston Town-like performance but that was on a terribly biased track and she took advantage of that bias,’’ Dufficy said.

“I feel her judgment comes during her autumn campaign and if she can win the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.’’

Form guru Gary Crispe, compiler of the Australian Timeform ratings, also maintains Winx has more to do to earn the elite ranking.

But Crispe used a revealing comparison between Winx and the legendary mare Sunline to predict the Waller-trained mare has the potential to become one of the best gallopers of the modern era.

“At the end of Sunline’s four-year-old spring campaign, she had won three Group 1 races including a Doncaster and the Cox Plate, but she ran fourth in the Epsom carrying 56.5kg,’’ Crispe said.

Winx’s quest for champion status and possible Horse of the Year honours begins on Saturday. Picture: Jay Town

“Winx won the Epsom with 57kg and also the Cox Plate among her three Group 1 wins.

“If you stopped the clock at the same stage of their careers, Winx has a Timeform rating of 126 compared to Sunline on 124.

“I wouldn’t have called Sunline a champion then and neither would I call Winx a champion although they were both outstanding mares.’’

Crispe agreed Winx’s autumn campaign that begins with the Apollo Stakes tomorrow will define the mare.

“If Winx can win a race like the Queen Elizabeth Stakes convincingly and defeats a good field then she earns the right to be called a champion,’’ Crispe said.

“But what she has done so far has been incredible. Her Epsom wins was an amazing effort and it seemed she wasn’t out of second gear in the Cox Plate.

“I realise there was a pronounced bias at Moonee Valley that day but I think she would have won the race anyway.

“Her next few runs will show whether she can continue on that upward spiral and if she does, then we are looking at a genuine superstar.’’

Winx blitzed her rivals in the Cox Plate. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Both Dufficy and Crispe agree Winx is meeting most of the criteria often used to define a horse’s champion status.

She has been consistent at the top level, comfortably eclipsed some outstanding horses, demonstrated versatility and her powers of acceleration are spectacular.

This just leaves Winx needing to sustain her excellence for an extended period and fortunately for Australian race fans, the mare’s owners are keen to keep her racing next season and attempt back-to-back Cox Plates.

Winx is poised to commence her quest for greatness in the Apollo Stakes on Saturday. The 1400m weight-for-age feature has been kind to mares, who have recorded seven wins in the last 15 years including Sunline’s dual successes in 2000-01.

Only two horses have won the Cox Plate-Apollo Stakes double in the same season — Sunline who managed the feat twice in 1999-2000 and 2000-01 while Red Anchor won both races in 1984-85.

It is worth nothing Sunline and Red Anchor were voted Horse of the Year those same seasons.

Winx’s quest for champion status and possible Horse of the Year honours starts at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

Originally published as Acid test of Winx’s champion qualities