Winx 1-10 in future-book betting to go out a winner

The grandstands are sold out. The weather will be perfect. Expectations are sky high.

Everything is in place for Winx’s final caeer start in Saturday’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick outside of Sydney.

The immensely popular 8-year-old mare can win her 33rd straight race and 25th Group 1 in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at 1 1/4 miles. After Saturday’s race, Winx will be retired and bred later this year.

Betting will be conducted, but many win tickets on Winx will go home as souvenirs. She was 1-10 in future-book betting on Wednesday.

The $2.86 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes has been a regular stop on Winx’s schedule in recent years, her final race of the Australian autumn season. Winx won the 2017 Queen Elizabeth Stakes for the 17th win of the streak and the 2018 running for the 25th win.

The winning streak began in the Group 3 Sunshine Coast Guineas at Sunshine Coast Racecourse on May 16, 2015. Aside from the longevity of the streak, Winx is best known for winning a record four consecutive runnings of the Group 1 Cox Plate, Australia’s top weight-for-age race, from 2015-18. Winx has been Australia’s Horse of the Year for the last three seasons and will almost certainly earn the same honor for this campaign.

The Queen Elizabeth Stakes has a post time of 1:05 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, and is part of a stellar program at Randwick that includes three other Group 1 races.

Trained by Chris Waller, Winx will be ridden by her regular jockey Hugh Bowman, and will start from the outside in a field of nine. Bowman is expected to put Winx in her customary position in mid-pack. Chances are high that by the time the field reaches the top of the stretch Winx will be a few lengths from the lead and gaining momentum.

The Queen Elizabeth Stakes will be Winx’s fourth start this year. She won the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse on March 23 by 3 1/2 lengths, though the margin was deceptive. Bowman stopped urging Winx long before the finish.

The other runners in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes include familiar names such as Happy Clapper and Hartnell. Happy Clapper has been second to Winx five times during the winning streak; Hartnell has been runner-up three times.

As of Wednesday, Hartnell and He’s Eminent were 12-1 for the Queen Elizabeth. The other runners were 20-1 or higher. He’s Eminent was fourth in the 2017 English Derby and began his Australian career with a second in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill Gardens on March 23.

This will be his first time to face Winx and only chance to play the role of spoiler against her.