Winx ready to roll in bid for 31st straight victory

Saturday’s sixth race at Royal Randwick Racecourse on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia, is officially known as the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes. The focus will be entirely on Winx as the immensely popular 8-year-old mare attempts to win her 31st consecutive start.

Winx is trained by Chris Waller and will start as a heavy favorite in the Chipping Norton Stakes at a mile on turf. The race is largely an intramural affair. Waller trains six of the seven entrants. Happy Clapper, a 9-year-old gelding who has won 7 of 29 starts, is trained by Patrick Webster.

Winx and Happy Clapper were first and second in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes at seven furlongs at Randwick on Feb. 16, separated by 2 1/4 lengths.

The lack of opponents for the $427,860 Chipping Norton is a reflection of Winx’s domination during her streak, which began in May 2015.

The Chipping Norton Stakes, which has a post time of 11:40 p.m. Eastern on Friday, will be the second start for Winx since she was given a rest during the Australian summer. Winx won the Group 1 Cox Plate for a record fourth time last October.

In the Apollo Stakes, Winx closed from fifth to take the lead in the final furlong. Jockey Hugh Bowman guided Winx to the front without aggressive urging.

Winx has won the last three runnings of the Chipping Norton Stakes – which represented the seventh win of her streak in 2016, the 15th in 2017, and the 23rd last year. In 2016 and 2017, Winx won the Apollo Stakes before the Chipping Norton. Last year, Winx won the Chipping Norton in her first start in more than four months.

Happy Clapper would be the most logical threat to Winx in the Chipping Norton, although he has finished behind the mare nine times in the last 35 months. Winx would have to have a subpar performance for any of the other runners to record an upset.

The Chipping Norton Stakes is a prep for Happy Clapper for the newly created $3.5 million All Star Mile at Flemington Racecourse on March 16, a race that is not on Winx’s calendar.

Waller has two other Group 1 winners in the field, Egg Tart and Unforgotten, who were third and fifth in the Apollo Stakes.

Egg Tart, a 6-year-old mare, won the Group 1 Queensland Oaks in June 2017, but is winless in her last six starts. Unforgotten, a 5-year-old mare, won the Group 1 Australian Oaks going 1 1/2 miles last April and the Group 2 Chemlsford Stakes at a mile last September.