It might well be true that the great Australian 5-year-old mare Winx can do just about anything at this point, but there is nothing she does better than race 1 1/4 miles at Moonee Valley Racecourse.
That is the host course and race distance of the Group 1 Cox Plate, one of Australian racing’s biggest prizes, and Winx won the race for the second year in a row with breathtaking ease, blowing away her main rival, Hartnell, with a move off the final bend and flying home in the $1,120,120 Cox Plate.
In Japan, Dee Majesty will attempt to win the longest race of his career in Sunday’s $2.53 million Japanese St. Leger at Kyoto Racecourse.
In France, Vazirabad can win Sunday’s $380,275 Prix Royal-Oak for the second consecutive year at Saint-Cloud Racecourse in Paris.
The two races are late-season turf marathons showcasing leading stayers in both countries.
The Grade 1 Japanese St. Leger, run at 1 7/8 miles for 3-year-old colts and fillies, drew a field of 18.
Winx, one of the world’s top-rated horses, will seek her 13th consecutive victory when she runs in the Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in Australia on Saturday.
Winx, a 5-year-old Street Cry mare who won this race a year ago, has achieved a 127 rating on the World Thoroughbred Rankings this year, tied for the fourth-highest mark.
She barely has been challenged during her win streak, which began in May 2015; the closest finish was in September 2015, when she won a Group 2 race by a head. Eight of her victories have been Group 1s.
The Group 1 winners Aerovelocity, Designs on Rome, and Peniaphobia will start in Group 2 races at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday in preparation for expected appearances in the Group 1 international races in Hong Kong on Dec. 11.
Aerovelocity and Peniaphobia have won the last two runnings of the Hong Kong Sprint and are part of a field of 12 in Sunday’s seventh race, the $515,616 Premier Bowl at six furlongs on turf.
Designs on Rome, the Horse of the Year in Hong Kong in 2013-14, will start in Sunday’s $515,616 Sha Tin Trophy at about a mile on turf.
Brett Davis - Selections
R1 - 9-4-3-1
R2 - 3-2-5-6
R3 - 9-4-3-7
R4 - 6-3-1-9
R5 - 7-10-9-2
R6 - 4-6-9-1
R7 – 10-1-9-12
R8 - 1-3-2-12
R2 n3 France Valour
2nd Best - R3 n9 Shining Champion
Longshot - R6 n9 Excellence
Best Play - Double R2 n3, R3 n9
Paul Lally – Selections
Race1 9-2-4-7
Race2 2-1-6-7
Race3 9-4-7-11
Race4 9-2-6-11
Race5 7-9-2-4
Race6 4-11-6-2
Race7 10-8-9-1
Race8 2-12-1-9
Minding completed a remarkable 3-year-old season with a fifth Group 1 win of the year in Saturday’s $1.4 million Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot Racecourse in England, her first win against older horses this year.
The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at a mile was the second-richest race on a six-race Ascot program that included three other Group 1 stakes.
The French 3-year-old Almanzor in May had started five times. His appearances in two Group races had produced a seventh and a third, and even after winning a Group 3 in May, he was a 20-1 shot to win the French Derby. Win it he did, though, and now, as he goes off to rest for the winter, Almanzor looks like the best horse in Europe following a decisive victory over Found in the Group 1 Champion Stakes on Saturday at Ascot.
