
Wonder mare Winx makes it 30 wins in a row
SUPERSTAR mare Winx has easily won her 30th consecutive race, beginning what is expected to be a farewell autumn campaign before drawing a close on her incredible career.
The Chris Waller-trained champion galloper was odds-on favourite in the 1400m Apollo Stakes at Sydney's Royal Randwick Racecourse and she didn't disappoint in her first outing of the year.
With long-time jockey Hugh Bowman in the saddle, the seven-year-old bided her time before taking the lead with 200m to go and effortlessly romped to victory by two lengths ahead of Happy Clapper and Egg Tart.
"She was in pure control from the 600m mark," said Bowman after Winx won the race for the third time.
"As the race unfolded we settled into a lovely rhythm. It was a pretty comfortable race for me and for Winx."
It extended the world's top-rated turf horse's win streak to 30, stretching back almost four years.
She smashed legendary sprinter Black Caviar's Australian win record last August when making it 26 in a row and subsequently cemented her place in horse racing history by winning a record fourth Cox Plate in Melbourne.
It made her the only horse to claim Australia's most prestigious weight-for-age race four times.
But the clock is inevitably ticking for Winx, the world's 2018 Horse of the Year alongside England's Cracksman.
This is widely expected to be her last season, with the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in April tipped as her likely swansong.
"It's a massive relief. It's quite unbelievable," said an emotional Waller after seeing his horse win yet again.
"She can't tell us when she's had enough and we made the decision to push on further (with an autumn season) for the better of racing."
The stats that matter ...
40 starts
34 wins
30 consecutive wins
22 Group 1 wins
1406 days unbeaten
71 individual Group 1 winners beaten
$230,000 cost as a yearling
329 lot number
$23,080,670 prize money earnings
1 World ranking
Australia's all-time leading prize money earners
Winx $23,080,670
Redzel $15,397,000
Makybe Diva $14,526,690
Sunline $11,351,610
Northerly $9,341,850
Chautauqua $8,821,935
So You Think $8,813,497
Black Caviar $7,953,936
Buffering $7,300,190
Criterion $7,268,869
Inlined image 3958922
Most Group 1 wins (Australia only)
Winx 22
Black Caviar 15
Kingston Town 14
Sunline 13
Tie The Knot 13
Manikato 11
Lonhro 11
Rough Habit 11
Octagonal 10
Northerly 9
World Group 1 records
22 Winx
16 John Henry
15 Black Caviar
14 Kingston Town, Affirmed, Goldikova
13 Bayakoa, Spectacular Bid, Sunline, Tie The Knot, Zenyatta
Winning streaks (Australia only)
30 Winx
25 Black Caviar
19 Gloaming, Desert Gold
18 Ajax
17 Mainbrace
15 Bernborough, Carbine
14 Phar Lap
13 Limerick
12 Tulloch, Firestick
11 Kingston Town, Eurythmic, Beau Livre, Somerset Fair, Barakey
World record
56 - Camarero
54 - Kincesm
Notable bets On Winx in Apollo Stakes
$250,000 at $1.08 (placed on February 13)
$225,000 at $1.09 (placed on February 14)
$219,000 at $1.10 (place Saturday)
$150,000 at $1.10 (placed on February 13)
$66,666 at $1.12 (placed on February 15)
$55,125 at $1.12 (placed on February 15)
$50,990 at $1.12 (placed on February 15)
$50,000 at $1.10 (placed Saturday)
$50,000 at $1.01 the place
$40,000 at $1.12 (placed on February 11)
$40,000 at $1.08 (placed on February 13)
$38,140 at $1.10 (placed Saturday)
$30,000 at $1.12 (placed on February 15)
$25,000 at $1.25 (placed on January 15)
$20,000 at $1.15 (placed on February 8)
