Talented filly Winx worked home strongly to return to winning form in the 2015 Phar Lap Stakes at Rosehill Gardens this afternoon.
Winx was far too good for her rivals in the 2015 Phar Lap Stakes at Rosehill Gardens this afternoon. Photo by: Steve Hart
Winx was settled worse than midfield by jockey Tommy Berry, but she was able to respond well when asked for an extra effort to storm over the top of her rivals to record a comfortable win from Hauraki and Supara.
The Street Cry filly returned to racing with slightly disappointing performances in the Group 2 Light Fingers Stakes (1200m) at Royal Randwick on February 14 and the Group 2 Surround Stakes (1400m), but clearly went to another level in the Phar Lap Stakes and Chris Waller’s racing manager Liam Prior believes that the three-year-old will continue to improve as she progresses through her autumn campaign.
“She just showed that she is probably a class above those type of horses,” Prior said.
“We have a few fillies that probably match up against each other, with Amicus and Wine Tales, and Winx came here and was nothing but dominant.
“We anticipated being a bit more positive, but to Tommy’s credit he was patient and he bided his time, switched her off, balanced her up at the top of the straight and he used to turn-of-foot to put her away.
“It was a good win and a great reward for the owners.
“They have been patient with her and they are going to have a lot more fun for the rest of the Carnival.”
Berry admitted after the race that he did not plan to settle Winx as far back as he did in the Phar Lap Stakes, but he was always confident that he was riding the best horse in the race.
The talented hoop was quick to pay credit to the training performance of Chris Waller and he feels the trainer made the right call skipping the Coolmore Classic with the Street Cry filly.
“As we have seen plenty of times now, Mr.Waller knows how to really set them for races,” Berry said.
“He took the easier option and skipped the Coolmore Classic to come here and she was there to win today.
“I expected to be a little bit closer, but once I got on Brenton Avdulla’s back he kept coming back and there was a bit of trouble in front of me, so I was a bit further back than I wanted to be, but I didn’t panic and I knew I was on the best horse in the race and rode her accordingly.”
Winx will press on to The Championships and has been included in the nominations for the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m), Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) and Group 1 Australian Oaks (2500m).
