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The end is a step closer for Winx after she romped to her fourth Chipping Norton Stakes win on Saturday but it will not be until she flashes past the finishing post for the very final time that trainer Chris Waller will really be able to relax and enjoy her phenomenal career.
Waller prides himself on taking care of every last detail with his horses and that molecular attention is only magnified when it comes to Winx, with the trainer determined to see out her career without another defeat.
The champion trainer walked the Rosehill track after last Wednesday’s meeting to find the best piece of ground for Winx’s exhibition gallop on Thursday.
“I always feel worried [particularly in races] about slow pace, fast pace, good tracks and wet tracks,” Waller said. “It is impossible to enjoy it. I have a job to do with her. The day she is retired, I’ll enjoy it. It’s been an amazing ride and something we will always look back on. We have two more runs to make sure it’s smooth sailing and get a fairytale ending.”
No All Star approach for Winx
There has been plenty of media talk about Racing Victoria having a shot at bringing Winx to Flemington for the All Star Mile but Chris Waller says talk is all it was.
“They haven’t spoken to me,” Waller said bluntly in the lead-up to the Chipping Norton Stakes. “We have purposely set her program and providing conditions suit there would be no need to change.”
It could only be concluded that Racing Victoria have used Winx as a marketing tool, promoting the fact that she might run in the All Star Mile while having no intention of actually approaching Waller.
So Winx is likely to run in the George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill on March 23, with her finale likely to be the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick on April 13.
“You get so many people booking their weekends to come and see Winx, so we respect that. That is why we have been upfront with her program,” Waller said. “If things were to change, which would be very rare, we would let everybody know.”