Sectionals expert rates Winx's Warwick Stakes finale

Tom Baddock - Monday August 21

Winx's Warwick Stakes win at Randwick on Saturday was simply mind-blowing but how does it compare to past champions of the turf?

Advertisement
Hugh Bowman salutes to the crowd aboard champion mare Winx. Photo: Darryl Sherer

The champion mare produced an outstanding performance to run down her Group I stablemate Foxplay in the shadows of the post after hopelessly missing the start by four lengths.

The stunning display even had some claiming her performance put her on par with that of the great Black Caviar.

Sectional analyst Vince Accardi has declared that Winx ran one of the fastest, if not the fastest, last 600m sectionals on record at Randwick for the 1400m, stopping the clock in a sizzling 31.98.

However, he also noted that the wind played a significant factor in the times being run on the day, which is clear considering three track records were broken.

"The visualisation of Winx's win in the Warwick Stakes was just phenomenal," Accardi said.

"But I did a bit of research this morning and utilised all my wind tools and basically the wind assistance in the home straight was about three to four lengths.

"They have gone three to four lengths faster than what they normally would.

"She's run a fast time off a slow speed. The bottom line is they were going about three lengths quicker than a standard barrier trial early and then you had the wind assistance in the home straight.

"Of course, you still have to be unbelievable to do it, but the reality is if it was athletics it would probably be a time that would be downgraded.

"In athletics they downgrade the time based on a tail wind.

"Visually the performance is amazing but when we break it all down and take the wind factors into consideration, if we directly compare it to last year it was a half-a-length performance below."

So how does Winx's best performance compare to the likes of undefeated champion Black Caviar?

"It is difficult to compare the pair because they never really raced at the same distances but if I took a holistic approach, because I use what's called an IVR benchmark, Black Caviar's best ever performance was the 2011 Newmarket Handicap and Winx's best ever run was the 2015 Cox Plate," Accardi said.

"Off their best performances, I've got Black Caviar 1.2 lengths ahead of Winx."

"At this stage Winx appears more versatile than Black Caviar but if we are just looking purely at what their best performances were, then Black Caviar still holds a length overall superior performance."

"Makybe Diva, oddly seems to be a bit of a forgotten horse and shouldn't be, I have Makybe Diva's best ever performance being just behind Black Caviar based on her 2005 Australian Cup win.

"Winx against Makybe Diva can be lined up at 2000m and there's not much between them.

"A length separates three great horses."

Regardless of facts, figures and hypotheticals Winx is no doubt in elite company and nothing can detract from what this great mare has already achieved as she goes forward in an attempt to cement her immortality by winning a third consecutive Cox Plate.

Advertisment
More Reading...
Sires With Winners - Sunday September 7
Here is the full list of 67 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Ka Ying Rising Straight to Everest Quarantine after Return Romp
Hong Kong Champion Ka Ying Rising was headed straight to quarantine to prepare for the Group I The Everest after another stunning performance when resuming for the new season on Sunday at Sha Tin.
Randwick around the track with Clinton Payne on Saturday
Saturday saw the return of Australian racing’s pin-up girl Winx and after giving racegoers a genuine heart flutter, she duly delivered with one of her best ever wins at Randwick.
Derby Dreaming for Crown of Russia
Danny O’Brien already has one promising winner by his former G1 star Russian Camelot (IRE) in the stable in Censori and on Sunday at Bendigo he unleashed another.
Pedigree Watch – 3YO Plus That G1 Late Bloomer
Saturday delivered another exciting instalment of early spring racing with three stakes races for 3YO’s and once again all of them were won by new first time stakes-winners that were virtually unsighted at two and we also had a new G1 winner, whose path to the top has been anything but smooth.
Sires With Winners - Saturday September 6
Here is the full list of 106 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
G1 Haydock Sprint Cup Upset
Wathnan Racing were expecting to win the Group I Haydock Sprint Cup (6f) overnight with short priced race favourite Lazzat, but the best he could manage was fifth behind progressive three year-old colt Big Mojo.
Stakes Goals Ahead for Supido Mare
Astute trainer David Payne is no stranger to G1 success and has always held Supido mare Shohisha in high regard and she showed the potential of better things to come this spring when powering home to win the Benchmark 94 event over 1600m at Randwick on Saturday.
More Stakes Success for Impending - Cool Memory Wins Listed Farnley
A son of Larneuk Stud's value Lonhro stallion Impending, five year old Cool Memory bolted in to claim his second stakes win and bring joy to favourite backers on a rain-drenched Saturday at Belmont Park.
Ones to Watch – Bendigo
At this time of year, you tend to take special notice of well-bred 3YO debut winners and three of them arrived at Bendigo on Sunday that were all interesting for different reasons and none more so than one who has a name that has become infamous this year.