Winx makes Warwick Stakes her 18th consecutive triumph

Winx overcame a poor start to win her 18th consecutive race in Saturday’s Group 2 Warwick Stakes at seven furlongs on turf at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Australia.

Her victory, however, was by only a head - her narrowest win margin in 23 months.

Ridden by Hugh Bowman, Winx (1-10) broke about three or four lengths slow and was at the back of the field until early stretch. Bowman guided Winx widest of all in the field of eight and got a remarkable response from the 6-year-old mare in the final furlong to catch 19-1 Foxplat at the finish.
Ecuador, a 25-1 shot, finished third, beaten a half-length.

During her winning streak, Winx has won two races by a head. She won the Group 2 Marks Stakes at Rosehill in September 2015 by a head, the third win of the current streak. Her wins since ranged in margin from by one to eight lengths until Saturday.

The $197,050 Warwick Stakes was the first start for Winx since a win in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on April 8. She has won five races this calendar year. The main goal in coming months is a third consecutive win in the Group 1 Cox Plate at about 1 1/4 miles on turf at Moonee Valley Racecourse on Oct. 28.

Winx is 2-5 in future-book betting for the Cox Plate, Australia’s top weight-for-age race. Kingston Town is the only horse to win three consecutive runnings of the Cox Plate, doing so from 1980-82.

Winx and Foxplay are trained by Chris Waller, who indicated Winx will be pointed to the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes at a mile Sept. 2.

By Street Cry, Winx is the highest-rated turf horse and leading female on the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings published earlier this month. She was rated at 132, slightly below Arrogate, the winner of the Pegasus World Cup and Dubai World Cup earlier this year who was rated at 134.

Arrogate will start in Saturday’s $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.