Winx shaping up nicely for Autumn Carnival campaign

Dual Cox Plate winner Winx is shaping up nicely for her Autumn Carnival campaign and will step out for the first time in public this preparation in a Rosehill barrier trial on January 17.

Dual Cox Plate winner Winx, above, will have a barrier trial on January 17 at Rosehill. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.

Dual Cox Plate winner Winx, above, will have a barrier trial on January 17 at Rosehill. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.

Foreman Charlie Duckworth released a statement for Chris Waller Racing on twitter indicating that Winx has pleased the stable in the early stages of her preparation in the lead up to her return to racetrack in the Group 2 $250,000 Apollo Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on February 11.

“Winx galloped this morning (Saturday) over 1000m and pleased her regular track rider Ben Cadden and she feels and looks as good as ever ahead of her first trial which is planned for 17th January ahead of her first up run on the 11th of February in the Apollo Stakes at Randwick,” the statement on twitter read.

Winx was sent to the spelling paddock after she took her winning sequence to thirteen when she won her second Group 1 $3m Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 22 by a record eight lengths as well as chalking up her ninth Group 1 success.

Trainer Chirs Waller has mapped out a tentative 2017 Autumn Carnival program very similar to last year’s with Winx to resume racing in the Apollo Stakes before stepping out second up in the Group 1 $600,000 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on February 25 followed by the Group 1 $1m George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on March 18.

Winx won all three of those races during the 2016 Autumn Carnival before going on to win the Group 1 $3m The Star Doncaster Mile (1600m) at Randwick on the first day of ‘The Championships’.

But Waller will bypass the Doncaster Mile this year and concentrate on the weight for age Group 1 Longines $4m Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on April 8, the second day of ‘The Championships.

Winx has a total of seventeen wins from twenty-three starts, including nine Group 1s, and has earned $9,348,175 in prizemoney.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.