Champion mare Winx plus ten other horses make up the early nominations for the 2017 Group 1 $500,000 Colgate Optic White Stakes (George Main Stakes) (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday.

Winx, above, heads up the nominations for the George Main Stakes at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.

The Australian Turf Club has extended the entry deadline until 11am on Tuesday September 12, 2017 for the George Main Stakes to try to boost the nominations that include four of Winx’s stablemates, Foxplay, Mackintosh, McCreery and Tom Melbourne.

Winx is on a path towards winning her third consecutive Group 1 $3m Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley on October 28 and will be lining up for her third 2017 Spring Carnival outing in the weight for age George Main Stakes.

Winx has kept her winning run going and claimed her eighteen straight victory with a hard fought first up win over Foxplay in the Group 2 $250,000 Warwick Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on August 19 and then Hugh Bowman had to extend the dual Cox Plate winner to her highest level to run down the Gerald Ryan trained Red Excitement in the Group 2 $250,000 Tattersalls Club Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) at Randwick two weeks later.

Waller has reported that Foxplay took longer than anticipated to recover from her hard first up run in the Warwick Stakes and he has also nominated the Foxwedge mare for the Group 3 $150,000 Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m) on Saturday.

“She took a good week to get over her first up run against Winx, her work since has been very good,” Waller said.

Waller is also very happy with the condition of Winx following her second tough run from two starts this campaign in the Chelmsford Stakes.

“She has come through her last start well and has put on three kilograms,” Waller told AAP.

“We went through the sectional times and she can’t run much faster.

“I think she is as well if not better than last time. Her coat is coming through and she is as sound as you could dream of.”

Trainer Gerald Ryan has nominated Red Excitement to take on Winx again in the George Main Stakes and it will be interesting to see if he adapts the same tearaway tactics again that Josh Parr executed in the Chelmsford Stakes before getting reeled in by the glamour mare in the shadows of the post.

Also among the George Main Stakes nominations is the Pat Webster trainer Happy Clapper who returned for his Spring Carnival campaign in winning form in beating Tom Melbourne in the Group 2 $200,000 Tattersalls Club Tramway Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on September 2.

Leading Newcastle trainer Kris Lees has nominated Le Romain for the George Main Stakes while the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable have entered the front running veteran Ecuador.

Nominations for the 2017 George Main Stakes (1600m)