Track watchers were amazed and jockey Hugh Bowman described Winx’s work as the best this campaign after her gallop on Monday morning in preparation for Saturday’s Group 1 $500,000 Seppelt Turnbull Stakes (2000m) at Flemington.
Winx, above, pleased jockey Hugh Bowman with her gallop at Flemington on Monday. Photo by Steve Hart.
Winx will be having her first race day appearance at Flemington on Saturday but seemed to handle the wide open spaces and the long straight when she galloped on the course proper on Monday morning.
Flemington trackmen clocked Winx running an astonishing 21 seconds for her final 400m of her 1000m gallop and Bowman had no reason to say that the supersonic time was off the mark.
“That’d be right,” Bowman told the Herald Sun.
“Yeah, she felt pretty good. Actually, I would say it was probably her best gallop this preparation, to be honest with you.”
“She felt amazing.”
“She had the ear muffs off and she was feeling really good in her action.
“And when she changed legs, I let her really run into the bridle and I don’t do that a lot at track work but it was her main piece and she had the opportunity to use the course proper.
“I just go by feel and what I felt this morning was pretty much what I hoped to feel.
“The best thing about it was she was very relaxed. That gives me great comfort.”
“Obviously having her first run at the track this Saturday, very excited about that and very pleased how she’s settled in.”
Bowman headed straight back to Sydney on Monday morning to ride four winners at Warwick Farm and will return to Melbourne to put Winx through her final paces on Thursday morning.
“I’ll go back and put her through her paces on Thursday morning. She’ll just do the standard,” Bowman said.
The Chris Waller trained Winx will be searching for her twenty-first consecutive win in the Turnbull Stakes and has kept her winning momentum going with three wins at Randwick during the 2017 Spring Carnival in the Group 2 $250,000 Warwick Stakes (1400m), in the Group 2 $250,000 Tattersalls Club Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) and in the Group 1 $500,000 Colgate Optic White Stakes (George Main Stakes) (1600m).
Winx is the winner of the last two running of the Group 1 $3m Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley and a third successive victory in the ‘Weight For Age Championship Of Australasia’ on October 28 will see her equal the legendary Kingston Town’s record of three wins in 1980, 1981 and 1982.
