Winx is not JUST a horse Hugh
What a day it was for Sydney Racing tips and Winx in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in front of 43,833 Winx supporters at Royal Randwick.
But it was Winx’s jockey Hugh Bowman that raised our ire from the brilliant day of Sydney Saturday Racing tips.
It was a strange, not lets call it weird comment after the Sydney racing tips Queen Elizabeth Stakes win for Winx from Bowman “she’s just a horse, a good one but just a horse”.
This is not what the racing/sporting pubic wanted to hear after the greatest racehorse we have seen won her 33rd straight race and her 25th Group 1. We wanted to hear how she wasn’t just a horse but how she was so much more. How she was hope, inspiration and greatness. We wanted to hear of his love, admiration and marvel at how an athlete could be so much better than her opposition.
We wanted to hear how Bowman talk fondly and remember this partnership that has been like no other in Racing history. But no, what do we hear from Jockey Hugh Bowman…”she’s just a horse”. Hugh bowman has not put a foot wrong over his entire association with Winx but his dismissive address of her post race was an awful mistake.
If Bowman had his time again perhaps he would choose his words more eloquently and maybe it was his way of dealing with the pressure of expectation to rationalise that she “is just a horse” and there is more to life.
This is something Bowman knows all too well with his great mate Tye Angland becoming a quadriplegic after a fall in Hong Kong Last year. Or maybe its truly how he felt and maybe that is what jockeys do feel when they partner the horse. Perhaps this romantic notion that us outsiders have that there is some sort of loving/cosmic connection between animal and jockey is mislayed and maybe it really is just business as usual. We feel the great mare was deserving of more respect particularly after what she has done for Bowman.
Sydney Racing tips The Championships Day 2
What a sight it was with 43,833 people jammed in to a pumping Royal Randwick racecourse all to see one thing with Winx to go on and win her 33rdstraight race and race off into the sunset to enjoy life in the breeding barn and she didn’t disappoint.
Positioned a fraction closer than normal she had them covered a long way out 3 wide improving and the inevitable was evident at the top of the straight. She didn’t pulverise them but it was another great win and the adoring public who had packed the racecourse to get a glimpse of history were not disappointed.
Waller is THE humble trainer
Winx Trainer Chris Waller was brilliant playing the role of “humble trainer” to perfection. He paid all the admiration to Winx choking back tears as he has on so many occasions before. Waller knew she isn’t “just a horse” and he knows the worlds focus was on this moment and he let out his relief to be able to hold this athlete Winx together.
100 Group 1 winners and 25 with Winx
With barely a ripple go wrong, he allowed the public to see the love he had for her and this was a true connection. It also chalked up Wallers 100th Group 1 win and with 25 of them being with Winx what a way to do it! Goodbye Winx, thanks for the memories you were more than just a horse to us.
Sydney Cup was 9 years between Group 1 glory
It was success gained in the Sydney racing tips Sydney Cup for a jockey who had been in the wilderness.
Jay Ford was the toast of the racing world nearly a decade ago and his association with the great sprinter Takeover Target had punters in raptures as he went on to win 7 Group 1s aboard the star. But it has been a roller coaster for Ford since those days, yet he still maintained his drive and belief and that was rewarded with a Group 1 win in the Sydney Cup.
101 Group 1 wins for Waller
Shraaoh took Chris Waller to 101 Group 1 wins and his fourth Sydney Cup, yet his presence of mind post race is what makes him the champion horse trainer that he is.
“We had two other horses who got beaten in the Sydney Cup , I don’t want to go off like a pork chop , don’t worry ill be satisfied when I hop into bed tonight and ill be the first one out of bed in the morning”. Waller takes none of this for granted, even after 101 Group 1 wins he stills remembers how hard it was to win the first one.
He is one of the great stories of Australian racing couch surfing and hitching rides to the track when he arrived in Australia with basically nothing more than a desire to succeed.
He is from humble beginnings from a dairy farm in New Zealand, and as far away as that seems now, its closer than ever before. You see Waller knows what makes him successful and his focus to make the best of himself doesn’t allow for him to get carried away in the dizzy heights of the noise around him.
In his heart he is still the kid from the dairy farm trying to make a go of it and in his mind success hasn’t been reached, he is a process driven workhorse that is the secret to his success along with having an innate understanding of the animal.
The big flop out of the Sydney Cup was Dubhe, it was smashed in early betting markets but in the last 30 minutes of betting was a noted drifter and it was the first horse under pressure a long way out. He stuck on ok but was never a threat. Venguer Mask showed his sticking capabilities running a solid second while the Kiwi Glory Days looked the winner at the 200 just peaked on its run.
Melbourne and Caulfield Cup or Cox Plate for Verry Elleegant
It was the first of three Group 1s for Chris Waller winning the Sydney Racing tips Australian Oaks over 2400m. Despite what Winx and Shaaroh were able to do for Chris Waller later in the day we are sure it was the first of his three Group 1s that was probably the best training performance. As luck would have it the Waller stable had tried to purchase Verry Ellegant after its early racing in New Zealand, he was unsuccessful. The horse went to Darren Weir for a an erratic preparation, and after Weirs downfall the filly was quickly transferred to Waller, and she has grown up before our very eyes.
Waller has done what Weir could not
Verry Ellegant was a very headstrong tightly wound filly during her spring campaign and Waller has done a fantastic along with James McDonald and his track riding staff. They have enabled this filly to settle and save her energy ensuring she can run a strong trip and she appears to be a Caulfield cup horse 100%.
We wonder whether Waller feels she may have the class to tackle a Cox Plate in the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival. It is always difficult to know if the 3 year old can go on with it at a “true staying level” or whether they won these classic age races on talent alone.
The way Verry Ellegant has improved this prep and the way she accelerated to take out the Oaks looks like she is a topliner and with another spell under her belt and a new level of maturity she should be able to measure up.
Shortened odds for the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival
Verry Elleegant has raced into $11 favourite for the Melbourne racing tips Spring Racing Carnival Caulfield Cup, $13 third fav for the Melbourne Racing tips Cox Plate and $26 for the Melbourne Cup.
James McDonald was full of praise for the filly and apart from a slight throw of the head at the 1800m mark he was super impressed with her racing manners and one gets the feeling he isn’t giving up the ride on this star filly anytime soon.
Group 1 Glory for John Allen
It was a great ride by John Allen in the Sydney Racing Tips Group 1 Coolmore Legacy. It was full of composure and timing to get Kenedna over the line, something that is not easy for a jockey to do when they are not consistently applying their craft at the top level.
Allen had been the key stable rider for the suspended Darren Weir and after the trainers suspension Allen had really found it tough to garner trust from other owners and trainers to put him on. That is despite being one of the stars of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival last year winning the VRC Derby and the Mackinnon Stakes at Flemington racecourse.
Kenedna had a super 3 year old year and arguably should’ve won the South Australian Oaks and ran fourth in the Queensland Oaks. For whatever reason though she had an ordinary in her 4 year old season, but she rediscovered her form late last year taking out the Group 2 2000m race on the final day of the Carnival.
Trainers Ciaron Maher and David Eustace had a plan to go to the Brisbane Racing tips Winter Carnival Doomben Cup. But after her run in the Group 2 last start and with a lot of these horses having been up for so long they felt that it may be an opportunity to hit the Sydney Racing tips Autumn Carnival with the “fire” still in her legs. It proved a bold and winning move and she is one to watch in the Brisbane Racing Tips Winter Racing Carnival.
One thing is for sure John Allen is back on the radar and Maher has said this will lead to a lot more opportunities fro the Group 1 winning hoop.
Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival and Adelaide Racing Carnival
This weekend will see the end of what has been a brilliant Sydney Racing tips Autumn Carnival and we have the Champagne Stakes and the All Aged Stakes to wrap up the Autumn Racing season.
However as we head into Winter and May, the Racing season continues with brilliant racing for the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival and the Adelaide Racing Carnival.
The Adelaide Racing Carnival kicks off on May 4 with the 1200m Robert Sangster Stakes and the 2000m Australasian Stakes both at Morphettville racecourse. The Adelaide Racing tips Carnival continues for the month of May.
The Doomben 10,000 kicks of the Brisbane Racing tips Winter Carnival at Doomben racecourse kicks off 11 May and will go for the months of May and June and will feature brilliant Racing at Doomben and Eagle Farm racecourses including the Stradbroke Handicap.
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