Winx goes for No. 22 in Cox Plate
The odds convey her level of popularity.
When Winx won the 2015 Cox Plate for her fifth consecutive victory, she was the 15-8 favorite. Last year, she won the Cox Plate at 4-5 in her 13th straight win.
The streak is now at 21 races. Earlier this week, Winx was 1-6 in future-book betting for Saturday’s Group 1 Cox Plate at 1 1/4 miles on turf at Moonee Valley in Melbourne, Australia.
The $2.3 million Cox Plate is Australia’s leading weight-for-age race. The Melbourne Cup, a two-mile handicap run at Flemington Racecourse on Nov. 7, is that nation’s most popular race.
Winx is by far Australia’s most popular horse. The presence of the 6-year-old mare has led to a sellout for Saturday’s program at Moonee Valley. The Cox Plate has a post time of 2 a.m. Eastern on Saturday, or 11 p.m. Pacific on Friday.
Trained by Chris Waller, Winx has won four races since returning from a four-month break in mid-August. In the Group 1 Turnbull Stakes on Oct. 7 at Flemington Racecourse, Winx dominated six rivals to win the race at 1 1/4 miles on turf by 6 1/2 lengths. Her first three wins in that span were much closer, by margins of a head to 1 1/4 lengths at distances ranging from seven furlongs to a mile.
This year, Winx has won eight races – five Group 1 races and three Group 2 races. Her winning streak includes 14 Group 1 races, all in Australia.
Winx, the Australian Horse of the Year the last two years, is part of a field of nine in the Cox Plate. She will be ridden by Hugh Bowman from post 6 and has a familiar list of rivals.
Humidor was third to Winx in the Turnbull and finished fifth in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup last Saturday. Happy Clapper was second to Winx in the Group 1 George Main Stakes on Sept. 16 at Royal Randwick. Two weeks later, Happy Clapper won the Group 1 Epsom Stakes at a mile at Randwick, and he was second in his last start, which came in the Group 3 Craven Plate at 1 1/4 miles Oct. 14 at Randwick.
If there is a true threat to Winx, it could come from Gailo Chop, who won the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes at 1 1/4 miles Oct. 14. Gailo Chop was eighth in the 2016 Cox Plate.