Winx reigns over Randwick in her own race

Image: Steve Hart Chris Waller admits he is running out of words to describe the phenomenon that is Winx

Chris Waller admits he is running out of words to describe the phenomenon that is Winx.

But the trainer found a couple of new ones after the mare dominated the first running of the Group One Winx Stakes at Randwick on Saturday in front of thousands of adoring fans.

As she strode to the line under soft hands from her jockey Hugh Bowman, Winx claimed an Australian record 26th straight victory and her 19th at the highest level.

“You look for signs of her losing that dominance but I haven’t seen one ounce of it,” Waller said.

“If anything I’ve seen improvement and it’s quite staggering.

“This isn’t about me. It’s about this amazing animal. What she’s doing for sport and Australian racing, we should all take a bow and say well done Winx.”

The late addition of Kementari to the field brought a new dimension to Saturday’s 1400m weight-for-age race with many predicting a match-race.

He was no match, with the pair making their runs together at the top of the straight before Hugh Bowman revved Winx up and she dropped Kementari with ease.

As the $1.24 favourite eased clear it was left to Invictus Prince ($151) to lead the rest.

He finished two lengths behind Winx with her stablemate D’Argento ($17) another length third and Kementari fourth.

Bowman admitted he thought Winx might have been vulnerable early in the race which was short of the triple Cox Plate winner’s best.

“It’s been a while since she has run over this distance. It is a bit short of her best,” he said.

“Glyn Schofield on Kementari and I came around the corner together. I thought I was near my top. She was struggling at the pace of this distance.

“But when she balanced up and saw the winning post, what can I say, she is incredible.

“You see the crowd building from the start of the day. Parents are bringing their kids out to see a horse of the calibre we may never see again.

“I’m lost for words. I am so proud of her.”

Matthew Smith, the trainer of Invictus Prince, was also a little lost for words trying to describe how it felt to run second to a champion.

“I’m trying to keep a lid on it,” he said.

“We had a plan for him but now we might be switching to our second plan.”

In the lead-up to the race, both Waller and Bowman had been bullish, saying Winx was perhaps better than ever.

But the trainer admitted to one concern, not just for Winx but all horses with the prevailing drought in NSW.

“It has been hard for all of us with the drought and the hard training tracks,” he said.

“I haven’t really let her go in track work because of that so we are going into races a bit blind.”

The other thing Waller puts in perspective is her winning streak, reminding people of the previous record holder.

“Black Caviar was unbeaten in her career and she will always have that,” he said.

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