The new book, Immortals of Australian Horse Racing, recounts the incredible stories behind Australia’s most legendary racehorses. And, as we revel in another epic racing season, this edited extract takes a look at one many believe is the greatest racehorse Australasia has ever produced – the all-conquering WINX…
Horse races are ranked according to an international system, with Group 1 races being the most prestigious. Several classic races link the careers of the Immortals, with the Melbourne Cup (3,200m) being probably the most well-known race although not every Cup winner is a champion and plenty of great horses could not win the Cup. The WS Cox Plate (2,040m) is run on the turning Mooney Valley track under the weight for age (WFA) scale in which horses of the same age and gender carry an equal weight. This one race has been the making and breaking of many champions over the years. There are sprinters (1,000m to 1,400m), middle distance horses (1,600m to 2,000m) and dyed-in-the wool stayers (2,400m to 3,200m) in the list of Immortals covered in my latest book. The best of the best mixed these distances (Kingston Town won at Group level from 1,200m to 3,200m), while others were specialists at shorter trips (Black Caviar won all of her 25 starts at distances between 1,000m and 1,400m).
The welfare of the thoroughbred is paramount in today’s billion-dollar racing and breeding history, and those horses that are specifically trained to run competitively are given the utmost care and attention by their stables. There are inherent risks in any sport, but the duty of care afforded equine athletes in Australia is second to none in the world — which is why the world comes here to compete. Let’s take a look at one mare who many say may just well be the best of them all.
The winner of an incredible 37 races, including a record four WS Cox Plates (from 2014 to 2017), Winx, the ‘Wonder Mare’, set records that will probably never be bettered at distances from 1,200 to 2,400 metres in all conditions and against all challengers, local and international. Thirty-three consecutive wins at the highest level, a world record 25 Group 1 victories and more than $26 million in prize money are each impressive enough, but as the top-ranked horse in the world in 2017-18 Winx captured the imagination of the entire country.
A daughter of the Irish stallion Street Cry, the winner of the 2002 Dubai World Cup, Winx’s dam Vegas Showgirl was a New Zealand–bred, stakes-winning mare. Sold for $230,000 at the 2013 Magic Millions yearling sale to a partnership put together by Magic Bloodstock (her racing colours featured a large ‘M’ on a blue background), Winx’s racing name is literally a wink to her dam: a response a pretty Vegas showgirl might elicit from an adoring fan. Trained by former New Zealander Chris Waller at Randwick, Winx was successful in her first two races in the winter of 2014 and attracted a ‘boom filly’ tag when she won the Group 2 Furious Stakes (1,400 m) at her third start. However, her rising star was eclipsed by the John Thompson– trained First Seal, which defeated Winx in the Tea Rose Stakes (1,400 m) and Flight Stakes (1,600 m) at the end of her first preparation.
Sent for a spell, Winx returned to racing in the 2015 autumn but won just one race at her next five starts as Waller steadily increased her distances. When she finished an unlucky second as favourite in the ATC Oaks (2,400 m) after being poorly ridden by international jockey João Moreira, even Waller reassessed his high opinion of the filly’s ability.
Was Winx as good as he thought she was? Just five days after her Oaks defeat Winx lined up in the Group 3 Sunshine Coast Guineas (1,600 m) at the start of the Queensland winter carnival. Former Sydney jockey Larry Cassidy later said she was in an impossible position at the 600 metre mark, but she made the impossible look easy in running over the top of her rivals. This was the start of her unbeaten run of 33 race wins and her spectacular victory from last in the Queensland Oaks (2,400 m) at her next start heralded the arrival of a new champion. Winx had become Winx!
What makes a champion? The mare was certainly nothing special to look at: she was a plain bay in colour and not overly large or leggy, but Winx had a V8 racing motor for a heart and a unique cadence at top speed that allowed her to accelerate quickly over a short distance. And like all champions, her will to win was freakish. Jockey Hugh Bowman, who took the ride on Winx in the Oaks and rode her for much of her career, stated later that if he had known how good she was going to be he wouldn’t have been beaten on her earlier in her career. Winx could do things in races other horses just couldn’t do.
Winx commenced her four year old season in the Theo Marks Stakes over 1,300 m at Rosehill in September 2014. Stand-in jockey James McDonald left her run until the last second, and she fell in to win by a head from Son of John. Forced to carry a record 57 kg in the Epsom Handicap (1,600 m) after the original top weight was scratched and weights were raised, Bowman put her into the race after a slow start and she burst through for another thrilling win. In her first trip to Melbourne, however, Winx went to another level. She won her first WS Cox Plate (2,050 m) by four and three-quarter lengths, breaking Might and Power’s race record by half a second. On a light, three-run preparation she had treated her opposition with contempt.
The following autumn Winx won the Apollo Stakes (1,400 m), the Chipping Norton Stakes (1,600 m) and the George Ryder Stakes (1,500 m) before taking on the handicappers in the Doncaster Mile (1,600 m). She was allotted 56.5 kg in the Doncaster — weight for age for a four-year-old mare – and started an odds-on favourite on a wet track. Bowman was blocked for a run in the straight, but in a masterful ride the premiership-winning jockey guided the mare through the middle of the pack to beat Happy Clapper by two lengths. Waller labelled Winx a champion after that win, while Bowman had no hesitation in declaring her the best horse he had ridden. She was named Australian champion racehorse of the year for the 2015-16 season, an award she would earn a record four years in succession.
Winx returned to racing in her season as a five year old with an easy win in the Warwick Stakes (1,400 m). Wins in the George Main Stakes (1,600 m) and the Caulfield Stakes (2,000 m) were mere training gallops before capped her spring campaign with the most dominating performance of her career. In the 2016 Cox Plate she thrashed the imported galloper Hartnell by a record eight lengths to have racing scribes around the country searching for superlatives. At the end of the 2016-17 season Winx extended her winning streak to 17 successive races, which culminated in her success in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2,000 m) at Randwick.
As a six year old, however, her usual spring campaign launch did not go to plan. Missing the start badly in the Warwick Stakes, Bowman had to use all his skill to get the champion mare to run down stablemate Foxplay in a remarkable performance. In the Chelmsford Stakes (1,600 m), Waller applied earmuffs to calm the mare but she was a little too relaxed and allowed the leader Red Excitement get too far in front of the pack. With a conservative 10 lengths to make up Bowman had to get to work on Winx in the straight, and although she was three lengths behind at the 200 metre mark the freak mare still got up to win by a length. Winx once again went to another level: her third Cox Plate win, beating the import Humidor by half a length in a thrilling performance and bettering her own race and course record set in 2015. A third win in the race also equalled the record set by the great Kingston Town in 1980-82 and took her to the top of the Australasian prize money list.
Bowman was suspended at the start of 2017, but such was their winning bond Waller delayed Winx’s autumn campaign until the Chipping Norton Stakes (1,600 m) in March. The mare duly won first up by seven lengths on an unsuitably hard track, surpassing Black Caviar’s record 15 Group 1 victories. She was stalked by the great miler Happy Clapper second up in the George Ryder Stakes, prevailing by three-quarters of a length before finishing autumn with another win in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Connections of the champion mare turned their back on a lucrative Royal Ascot campaign in England to chase a fourth WS Cox Plate in spring. Waller was concerned about the physical stress of travelling overseas, as Winx was now older and had nothing left to prove. A meticulous planner, the premier Sydney trainer was lauded by his peers for the expert manner in which he planned her campaigns over four tense years. Bowman later stated Waller could have trained Winx to win a Melbourne Cup earlier in her career if the handicapper would have been kind to her, but the canny trainer concentrated on middle-distance races, in which she was at her very best.
In 2017 the Warwick Stakes was renamed the Winx Stakes and promoted to Group 1 status. Now a seven year old, Winx lined up in the race for the third successive year and achieved the rare feat of winning a race named in her honour. She no longer dominated her races but the will to win was still there; she could have easily lost the Turnbull Stakes that spring had it not been for Bowman’s unfaltering faith in her. The highpoint of that campaign was her sweeping win in her fourth WS Cox Plate as a $1.28 favourite.
After consulting with the champion mare’s owners, Waller determined that the 2018 autumn campaign would be Winx’s last. Wins in the Apollo Stakes (her third win in the race), the Chipping Norton Stakes (her fourth) and the George Ryder Stakes (also her fourth) went off as planned, although the old marvel Happy Clapper attempted to steal the Chipping Norton from her when he surged seven lengths clear as the field rounded the Randwick turn. Winx still won; she was bullet proof. Winx farewelled the racing world with a record-equalling third win in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in front of 40,000 cheering fans. Only the third horse to be inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame while still racing after Sunline and Black Caviar, a new grandstand at Randwick will be named in her honour and a statue was commissioned for Mooney Valley and Rosehill. Racing will not see her likes again. ■
THE WINX STATS
| NAME WINX Bay mare foaled in 2011 | |
| SIRE/DAM | Street Cry (IRE)/Vegas Showgirl (NZ) by Al Akbar |
| BREEDER | John Camilleri, Fairway Thoroughbreds |
| OWNER | Magic Bloodstock Racing (manager Peter Tighe), R.G. Treweeke and D.N. Kepitis |
| TRAINER | Chris Waller |
| YEARS ACTIVE | 2013-18 |
| RECORD | 43 starts, 37-3-0 |
| PRIZE MONEY | $26,421,176 |
| AWARDS/HONOURS | Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19; World’s Top-Ranked Turf Horse 2016 and 2017; Longines WTRR World’s Best Racehorse 2018, tied with Cracksman (GB); Australian Racing Hall of Fame 2017; G1 Winx Stakes (1,400 m) at Randwick |
| WINX’S MAJOR CAREER RECORD | |||||||
| Age | Place | Date | Race | Course | Distance (metres) | Jockey | Weight (kg) |
| 2 yo | 1st | 4/6/13 | 2YO Fillies Handicap | Warwick Farm | 1,100 | J. Collett | 55 |
| 1st | 28/6/13 | 2YO Handicap | Rosehill | 1,400 | J. Collett | 56 | |
| 3 yo | 1st | 6/9/13 | Furious Stakes (G2) | Randwick | 1,200 | H. Bowman | 56 |
| 2nd | 4/10/13 | Flight Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 56 | |
| 1st | 14/3/14 | Phar Lap Stakes (G2) | Rosehill | 2,000 | T. Berry | 54.5 | |
| 2nd | 11/5/14 | ATC Oaks (G1) | Randwick | 2,400 | J. Moreira | 56 | |
| 1st | 16/5/14 | South Coast Guineas (G3) | Sunshine Coast | 1,600 | L. Cassidy | 55 | |
| 1st | 30/5/14 | QTC Oaks (G1) | Doomben | 2,200 | H. Bowman | 56.5 | |
| 4 yo | 1st | 12/9/14 | Theo Marks Stakes (G2) | Rosehill | 1,300 | J. McDonald | 54.5 |
| 1st | 3/10/14 | Epsom Handicap (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 24/10/14 | WS Cox Plate (G1) | Mooney Valley | 2,040 | H. Bowman | 55.5 | |
| 1st | 13/2/15 | Apollo Stakes (G2) | Randwick | 1,400 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 27/2/15 | Chipping Norton Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 19/3/15 | George Ryder Stakes (G1) | Rosehill | 1,500 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 2/4/15 | Doncaster Mile (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 56.5 | |
| 5 yo | 1st | 20/8/15 | Warwick Stakes (G2) | Randwick | 1,400 | H. Bowman | 57 |
| 1st | 17/8/15 | George Main Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 8/10/15 | Caulfield Stakes (G1) | Caulfield | 2,000 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 22/10/15 | WS Cox Plate (G1) | Mooney Valley | 2,040 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 13/2/16 | Apollo Stakes (G2) | Randwick | 1,400 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 26/2/16 | Chipping Norton Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 18/3/16 | George Ryder Stakes (G1) | Rosehill | 1,500 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 8/4/16 | Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 2,000 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 6 yo | 1st | 19/8/16 | Warwick Stakes (G2) | Randwick | 1,400 | H. Bowman | 57 |
| 1st | 2/9/16 | Chelmsford Stakes (G2) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 16/9/16 | George Main Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 7/10/16 | Turnbull Stakes (G1) | Flemington | 2,000 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 28/10/16 | WS Cox Plate (G1) | Mooney Valley | 2,040 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 3/3/17 | Chipping Norton Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 24/3/17 | George Ryder Stakes (G1) | Rosehill | 1,500 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 14/3/17 | Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 2,000 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 7 yo | 1st | 18/8/17 | Winx Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 1,400 | H. Bowman | 57 |
| 1st | 15/9/17 | George Main Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 6/10/17 | Turnbull Stakes (G1) | Flemington | 2,000 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 27/10/17 | WS Cox Plate (G1) | Mooney Valley | 2,040 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 16/2/18 | Apollo Stakes (G2) | Randwick | 1,400 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 2/3/18 | Chipping Norton Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 1,600 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 23/3/18 | George Ryder Stakes (G1) | Rosehill | 1,500 | H. Bowman | 57 | |
| 1st | 13/4/18 | Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) | Randwick | 2,000 | H. Bowman | 57 |
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alan J. Whiticker is an award-winning author of sport, history, biography and true crime. A lifelong racing fan, Alan is the author of Don’t Die Wondering: The Pat Webster Story (2019), as well as Searching for the Beaumont Children (2006), The History of Rugby League Clubs (2004, with Ian Collis), 101 Great Rugby League Players (2012, with Ian Collis), Classic Albums: The Vinyl that Made A Generation (2018) and The State of Origin Companion (2020).
By ALAN J. WHITICKER
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