Australia: Winx prohibitive favorite to win 17th straight in Queen Elizabeth
Winx, the world’s top-rated turf horse, is a massive favorite to win her 17th consecutive start in Saturday’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick in Australia, but the short odds did not stop one bettor from placing a massive wager on her.
A 6-year-old mare, Winx would have to have a bad day to lose the $3.02 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes at about 1 1/4 miles on turf. She was 1-10 in future-book betting as of Tuesday and was the subject of a bet of approximately $56,760 that will net $5,676 if she wins, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph in Australia.
Winx will carry approximately 125 pounds, four pounds fewer than her eight male rivals in the field of nine. Trained by Chris Waller, Winx will be ridden by Hugh Bowman, her regular rider since October.
Winx was second in the Group 1 Australian Oaks at Randwick on April 11, 2015, and has since won all 16 of her starts, including 11 Group 1 races ranging in distance from 7 1/2 furlongs to 1 3/8 miles. The streak includes consecutive runnings of the Group 1 Cox Plate at about 1 1/4 miles on turf in 2015 and 2016, a race considered Australia’s top weight-for-age race.
Winx won her final five starts in 2015, all eight of her starts in 2016, and all three of her races this year. Winx began the new year in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes at seven furlongs on Feb. 13, followed by the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes at a mile Feb. 17 and the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs on March 18.
Winx won the George Ryder by 7 1/4 lengths on a heavy turf course.
Hartnell, winless in six career starts against Winx, was the 10-1 second choice as of Tuesday. Hartnell was second in the Apollo and eighth in the Chipping Norton.
The United States, an Irish-bred Galileo horse, was 14-1 for his first encounter against Winx. He began his career in Ireland, where he won a Group 3 stakes for Aidan O’Brien in 2013. Now trained by Robert Hickmott, The United States won the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes in March 2016. He was third in the same race last month.
The Queen Elizabeth is one of four Group 1 turf races on the Randwick program.
Big Duke, a winner of his last three starts in Group 2 and Group 3 races, will be favored in the $1,513,600 Sydney Cup at two miles, his Group 1 debut.
Bonneval, the winner of the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks last month, starts in Australia for the first time in the $756,800 Australian Oaks at 1 1/2 miles.
Silent Sedition, the winner of the Group 1 William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley on March 24, can win her second consecutive race at the highest level in the $756,800 Queen of the Turf Legacy Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile in the day’s final race.