Winx secures 33rd consecutive victory in final race
Jockey Hugh Bowman celebrates on the back of champion race horse Winx after her final race to victory in the Longines Queen Elizabeth Stakes during the Championships Race Day in Sydney on April 13, 2019. PHOTO | WENDELL TEODORO | AFP
What you need to know:
- Pressure of preparing a horse everyone expected to win, is not a synch.
- Her legacy looks like this: 33 straight wins, 25 group 1s, and, more than $26 million in prize money.
Australian champion mare, Winx, gifted us a fairy tale ending to an historic racing career on Saturday at Sydney's Royal Randwick, defeating males in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
She extended her unbeaten streak, to 33 races. Twenty-five of those for the 7-year-old daughter of Street Cry-Vegas Showgirl, by Al Akbar, came in her native country.
With Tina Turner’s Simply The Best blasting through the loudspeakers, and the word “IMMORTAL” being written in the sky, trainer Chris Waller, jockey Hugh Bowman, owners and their families, soaked up one last moment of utter euphoria.
WIN
Pressure of preparing a horse everyone expected to win, is not a synch. If she had not obliged, authorities could have called off the remaining meeting.
Bowman did what he has often done with Winx: let her jump easily, allowed her to settle midfield, out of trouble, then pushed the afterburners when necessary.
At the 300m mark, he eased past Hartnell, the Godolphin horse whose heart she broke when she won her second Cox Plate in 2016.
For a fleeting moment, the Japanese horse Kruger, hugging a rail and boxing on bravely, threatened to gate crash. Hartnell came third a distance away, perfectly aware that Winx would flatten, click her heels, and, blast them. Job done.
MATCHED RECORD
Her legacy looks like this: 33 straight wins, 25 group 1s, and, more than $26 million in prize money. This tribute can never be replicated. 43,833 people turned up to watch a phenomenal darling, as she covered 2,000m in 2:02:5/10 seconds.
Dare we mention that Winx has matched the record of another Australian legend, Phar Lap, who raced form 1929-1932. Both these thoroughbreds, have been nothing short of sensational.
Talking about Guineas records, the longest streak of winners ever, is 56 in Puerto Rico from Camarero.
During the 1870's, Hungary's, Kinscem, managed 54. But, if compared to today's era, then Winx is a miracle worker, because, stiffer world-wide competition has been escalating through the ages. Please sit back and absorb this crazy fabulous horse to the limits of your emotions.
