Champion mare Winx will not be afforded any special treatment when she is loaded into the barriers chasing a 19th straight win in the Group II Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Racing NSW chief steward Marc Van Gestel said Winx will be in the third group of horses loaded into the gates as per the order of the barrier draw.
"Every horse on a level playing field," Van Gestel said. "There hasn't been an approach made by the stable and it wouldn't be approved if it was.
"Chris knows the rules and we're quite regimented in the way we police that rule here in Sydney."
It was in October 11 2011, when Victorian stewards took the unique action to move a known barrier rogue to a wider gate to protect champion galloper Black Caviar after they'd drawn side-by-side in the in the Schweppes Stakes on Cox Plate day.
When Winx resumed in the Warwick Stakes two weeks ago, her anxiety once loaded into the gates got the better of the champion mare and she reared as the barriers opened, missing the start by four lengths before recording one of her most memorable wins.
Since that run trainer Chris Waller has left no stone unturned, attempting to take Winx's enthusiasm for her work out of the equation.
Last week the mare to the barriers at Rosehill with a barrier blanket on for the first time but it didn't have the desired effect and on Saturday she will race in ear muffs for the first time in the hope that a reduction of sound will settle the champion once she has been loaded into the gates by the barrier attendants.
"It's the only time I'm nervous when I'm on her back in the barriers because she does have a tendency to be a little bit anxious," jockey Hugh Bowman said.
"I think it's a case of Winx being Winx.
"The reality is she's likely to be a little anxious in the barriers because she always is. It's just a case of me staying as relaxed as I can to help her stay as relaxed as she can.
"We tried the barrier blanket but the reality was it made little or no difference.
"She was no better, she was no worse, she was just the same as always.
"She knows it's game time (when she goes into the barriers), she's obviously very intelligent and just wants to get on with the job."
The loading process for Saturday's Group II Chelmsford Stakes will be to split the field of 12 into two groups of six. Horses in barriers one and seven will be loaded first and so on until barriers six and 12 are filled last.
"If you draw the inside you go in first, if you draw out wide you go in late," Van Gestel said.
"We think it's fair they load from inside to out, in two banks depending on the field size and it's been a consistent policy here since I've been stewarding."
