BEFORE her air of invincibility set in, there was a time when Australia’s racing Queen Winx was beatable.
Winx is out to emulate Black Caviar in winning a 25th consecutive race in Saturday’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick in Sydney.
A win will take the Chris Waller-trained mare’s earnings to the brink of $ 19 million.
But part-owner Peter Tighe learned long ago not to take anything for granted and still vividly remembers Winx’s most ‘recent’ defeat.
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Wednesday marked three years to the day since she was last beaten — in the ATC Oaks on April 11, 2015 — when Hong Kong’s ‘Magic Man’ Joao Moreira earned the wrath of punters for failing to find a way home on the $ 2.80 favourite.
“I certainly do remember it,” Tighe said. “They expected her to come to the fore over that distance (2400m), but it just didn’t go to plan that day.
“I would say she was an unlucky second. The way the race was run didn’t suit. The winner got a break on the home turn and we couldn’t make up the ground.”
Queensland race fans have that race to thank for Winx kicking off her winning streak in this part of the world, where she won the Sunshine Coast Guineas and Queensland Oaks.
Had she won the Oaks in Sydney, the need for her to come to Queensland would have been redundant.
“It was always the plan to spell her,” Tighe said.
“It’s funny. On the Saturday we thought the campaign was all over, but a few days later Chris rang us and said we should give her a quick break and set her for Queensland.”
The Sunshine Coast win now kicks off every highlight reel you see of Winx. It was the day Larry Cassidy compared her to the champion Sunline, but connections weren’t expecting her to win that day.
“Chris said if we could run a good fourth or fifth at Caloundra we’d be happy,” Tighe said.
“(My wife) Patty and I were the only ones from the camp there. We went there with no expectations and she came out and bloused them.
“There was a wow factor that day.”
As it was that day at Caloundra, Winx’s owners still take nothing for granted.
“This is a very good field we are going up against and she’s drawn the outside barrier. It will be a tactical race,” Tighe said. “We’re just keeping our feet planted firmly on the ground and just preparing ourselves for raceday.
“We want to be gracious winners and also gracious losers. We don’t want to be any different if Saturday was the day she wasn’t to win. I believe it’s important we can be just as happy and congratulate the people who win as they do when we win.”
Tighe has already done interviews with French and US media this week and the nerves are now a constant companion in the lead up to race day.
“We just try and keep ourselves busy for the week,” he said. “You’d go mad if you just sat here and thought about it all week.”
