Winx at Flemington on the final day just seems the perfect fit to bring down curtain on carnival

THE prospect of running our greatest horse at our most famous track and our most famous carnival must excite Chris Waller. So will he run Winx run the $2 million Emirates Stakes?

Hugh Bowman celebrates after Winx won the Cox Plate.

ALL eyes now on the Melbourne Cup — and Winx.

It’s hard to imagine that a next-race decision about one horse — one not even running in the Melbourne Cup — could so influence our sense of anticipation for Cup Week.

Individual horses have at times been the “clincher’’ for the famous festival but always as Melbourne Cup runners.

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The late arrival on-track of Phar Lap in 1930, hidden away on the outskirts of Geelong after being shot at down a side street near Caulfield racecourse, is an immortal Melbourne Cup chapter.

The week of indecision about whether Makybe Diva would attempt a Cup three-peat, with topweight, had the sporting world on tender hooks.

The scenes down at Markdel, Lee Freedman’s former country stable near Rye, were quite incredible.

Cameramen with long lenses hired golf buggies on the nearby St Andrews golf course to gain a vantage point as she cantered along between her Cox Plate victory and indecision about whether to start in the Cup just days later.

Makybe Diva works during her stay at Lee Freedman’s former country stable at Rye.

As the mare waded with dolphins for company at nearby Safety Beach, a media throng kept a respectful distance as Freedman sat on a beach box and contemplated a decision that would affect racing history. He wiped Makybe Diva down with a towel and then tossed it to a beach walker who gasped and promised never to wash it.

Once Freedman decided to run he lay awake on Cup eve pondering the perfect quote to capture a win believed was inevitable.

He came up with the perfect line, delivered at the acceptance speech. “Go and find the youngest child on the course, because that’s the only person here who will have a chance of seeing this happen again in their lifetime.’’

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Hugh Bowman gives Winx a kiss after their amazing triumph. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Chris Waller might have a few sleepless nights this week.

Waller’s brilliant instinct has always been to take a conservative route with Winx. He has twice scratched her from races at Randwick because he didn‘t trust the shifting track.

He never doubted she would win, but whether the track would take some toll that might only revealed itself months later, like on Cox Plate Day.

Racegoers applaud Hugh Bowman and Winx after their mind-blowing victory. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Waller set his sights at a third Cox Plate after she demolished her rivals on Saturday to win her second.

The most anticipated question in racing since Peter Moody committed to taking Black Caviar to Royal Ascot is whether Waller lowers his sights to a more immediate race.

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In announcing a few months back that it would make a switcheroo with the Emirates and Mackinnon Stakes, the Victoria Racing Club engineered the perfect enticement for Cox Plate horses.

A relaxed Winx at her Flemington stall with stablehand Umut Odemislioglu on Sunday. Picture: David Crosling

The $1 million Mackinnon had been a week after the Cox Plate, the $2 million Emirates, its relocated replacement, was an enticing fortnight later.

Winx would canter around and flog horses like The United States in the Emirates.

The prospect of running our greatest horse at our most famous track, at our most famous carnival, in front of maybe 80,000, must excite Waller.

If Waller doesn’t take up the option this time around, the chance might not be there again.

There isn’t another race at Flemington, at least not in spring, that would seem a likely target for Winx.

Hugh Bowman celebrates as Winx crosses the finish line on Saturday. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Waller astutely keeps her in Sydney, against small, safe fields, in early spring because he can, ruling out races like the Makybe Diva and Turnbull Stakes.

The Australian Cup in the autumn hasn’t, and won’t, be on her radar because Sydney autumn simply suits better.

The Melbourne Cup has been a bit out of sight and mind this spring, with all the focus on the Cox Plate.

But now that the carnival shifts to Flemington, the Cup, with two Aussies atop the betting ahead of a swarm of raiders, will create great interest.

But if Winx is in the paddock on Final Day the carnival of champions will be without its champion.