Winx hits the road seeking No. 28 in Turnbull Stakes

The show in Australia has shifted from Sydney to Melbourne. The star remains the same.

Winx, the darling of Australian racing, will attempt to win her 28th consecutive start in Saturday’s Group 1 Turnbull Stakes at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne.

As of Wednesday, Winx was 1-6 in future-book betting for the Turnbull Stakes, which drew a field of 10 and is run at 1 1/4 miles on turf. The $356,200 Turnbull Stakes is designed as a final prep for Winx before the 7-year-old mare attempts to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive running of the Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley Racecourse on the outskirts of Melbourne on Oct. 27.

The Cox Plate at 1 1/4 miles is Australia’s leading weight-for-age race. Kingston Town won three runnings from 1980-82.

Flemington and Moonee Valley are about a mile apart in greater Melbourne. Winx, who has won 31 of 37 starts and is trained by Chris Waller, won her first appearance at Flemington in the 2017 Turnbull, the 21st win of the streak.

The Turnbull has a post time of 1 a.m. Eastern on Saturday or 10 p.m. Pacific on Friday.

The Turnbull will be the third start for Winx since she was given a four-month break during the Australian winter. By Street Cry, Winx won the Group 1 Winx Stakes, formerly known as the Warwick Stakes, at seven furlongs on Aug. 18, and the Group 1 Optic White Stakes at a mile on Sept. 15, a race historically known as the George Main Stakes. Those races were at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.

The Turnbull will be Winx’s first start at 1 1/4 miles since she won the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in April. Winx has won seven races at 1 1/4 miles during the winning streak.

In the Turnbull, Winx’s principal rivals are Grunt and Kings Will Dream, the first two finishers of the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes at a mile Sept. 15 at Flemington.

Grunt, a 4-year-old New Zealand-bred, won the Group 1 Australian Guineas last March and followed his win in the Makybe Diva Stakes with a sixth-place finish in the Group 1 Underwood Stakes on Sept. 30 at Caulfield Racecourse.

Kings Will Dream, a 5-year-old Irish-bred gelding, has not raced since the Makybe Diva Stakes. He was a minor stakes winner at 1 1/2 miles last March.