Winx set for Cox Plate tilt, with disclaimer

Source: Andrew Eddy – Racing.com /

The world’s best racehorse, Winx, will keep her army of followers on the edge of their seats all spring with her trainer Chris Waller tempering the news that a fourth Cox Plate is her main aim with the disclaimer that she could be retired at any time.

On the back of Winx finally being crowned on Thursday as the world’s best thoroughbred – on dirt or turf – Waller announced the mare will be put on a Cox Plate campaign but he reserved the right to end her career at the first sign that she might have had enough racing.

“We are just taking one run at a time for that very reason that when she’s starting to show signs that she’s getting tired, she can finish,” Waller told Macquarie Sports Radio on Friday.

“They have named a race after her at Randwick. It’s a Group 1 race this year called the Winx Stakes and that is about the 20th of August and that is likely to be the first run.

“We’ll edge towards the Cox Plate, but we won’t commit to it until she is 100 per cent on race morning.”

As for the news that the rising seven-year-old has finally landed the gong of the world’s best racehorse, Waller said:  “She hasn’t changed in my eyes – she’s a bloody superstar.

“It means a lot and we’ll be able to say now that she’s No. 1 in the world.

“She’s been right there. She’s been crowned the best turf horse in the world the last couple of years but not the best overall as there’s always been a dirt horse ahead of her until now.”