Australia: Forbidden Love faces fresh foes in Winx Stakes

Early year campaigns in Australia did not end well in April for Anamoe, Fangirl, and Mo’unga, three well established runners who return from layoffs in the Group 1 Winx Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney across American time zones on Friday.

All three were soundly beaten in Group 1 races in their last starts but have previous form that makes those losses easy to dismiss in advance of their comebacks in the $519,000 Winx Stakes at seven furlongs.

Those three are joined on the list of contenders by Forbidden Love, who was sixth of 12 in the Group 2 Missile Stakes at Randwick on Aug. 6, finishing 3 1/4 lengths behind Hard Empire, who is not part of the Winx field.

Forbidden Love can play an important role in the Winx as a 5-year-old mare capable of setting the pace or racing as a stalker. Forbidden Love has won 8 of 25 starts, including three consecutive Group 1 and Group 2 races in sprints in March.

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Anamoe, who will be strongly favored a field of 11 in the Winx, is a seven-time stakes winner who was last of nine in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Randwick on April 9. Anamoe was the only Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old in an outstanding field of nine in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Trained by James Cummings, Anamoe won at seven furlongs in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes at Rosehill Gardens in February in his last start at the distance. The key for Anamoe in the Winx Stakes is for top jockey James McDonald to work out a stalking trip from an inside post.

Fangirl, a 4-year-old filly, has won four stakes at distances ranging from six furlongs to about 1 1/8 miles. Fangirl was 13th of 14 in the Queen of the Turf Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile at Randwick on April 9. Jockey Brenton Avdulla said after the race Fangirl struggled with the heavy turf that day.

Mo’unga, who won the 2021 Winx Stakes against eventual Melbourne Cup winner Verry Elleegant, was sixth of 12 in the Group 1 All Aged Stakes at seven furlongs at Randwick on April 16.

Mo’unga, trained by Annabel Neashem, is winless in six starts since the 2021 Winx, although one of those losses was a second by a neck in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes at a mile last September.

The Winx Stakes is part of a 10-race program that begins at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, or 6:30 p.m. Pacific, on Friday. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

The Winx Stakes is the first of 74 Group 1 races in the Australian racing season, which began on Aug. 1.