A Cox Plate like no other: Winx phenomenon dominates

Those sports journalists attempting to paint this year’s G1 Cox Plate in Melbourne as an opportunity for Godolphin to destroy one the greatest racing stories on the Australian Turf have been left very disappointed.

Winx has been a flawless sporting icon over the past three years, but it is acknowledged even she must turn in one of her greatest performances to land an unprecedented fourth Cox Plate at tight little Moonee Valley on Saturday.

She will be attempting her 29th consecutive win —an extraordinary accomplishment in modern-day racing — and victory would see her become the world’s highest prizemoney earner in history.

The specialist sports scribes sent in to cover the Winx phenomenon have exhausted nearly every possible angle to this amazing sporting tale, so maybe a global racing giant such as Godolphin could be portrayed as the potential villain in this story?

Not a chance. One reason being that Godolphin are among Winx’s greatest fans.

As the great mare is a daughter of former Darley stallion Street Cry, who carried the Godolphin blue to a G1 Dubai World Cup triumph, she is almost family.

The Saeed bin Suroor-trained Benbatl and the James Cummings-trained Avilius are the two Godolphin representatives in the eight-runner field, which also includes Humidor, last year’s second, as well as Kings Will Dream, who backs up a week after his sixth in the G1 Caulfield Cup.

It is a good field, with a certain amount of depth, though not vintage despite the presence of a highly-rated challenger from Europe, who has already tasted G1 success in Melbourne this Spring.

Saeed accurately summed up Godolphin’s feeling for Winx.

“We have the utmost respect for her and what she has done. On the other side of the world, we have been following her career closely, and we admire her very much.

“When we decided at the start of the year to aim Benbatl at the Cox Plate, we were never thinking about who he might be running against, we just wanted the right target for him, and that is the Cox Plate.

“While we greatly respect Winx, we are happy to compete against her. That is horse racing. We are constantly trying to test our horses,” he pointed out.

The Cox Plate, first run in 1922, has been won by virtually every champion of the day.

Names such as Phar Lap, Rising Fast, Tulloch, Tobin Bronze, Gunsynd, Kingston Town (the only other triple winner), Strawberry Road, Super Impose, Might And Power, Makybe Diva and So You Think all appear on the honour roll — it is a who’s who of Australian champions.

Winx is already an honoured member of that elite group, but her status will be even further enhanced should she become the only four-time winner.

The Winx fan club has been growing year on year, proving more effective in promoting racing to a younger generation than any expensive marketing campaign.

On Tuesday, the Herald Sun, Melbourne’s biggest selling newspaper, carried a pull-out poster of Winx for fans to pin up on their walls at home or offices.

In such a sports-crazed environment, it is perhaps the simplest yet most sincere compliment that can be paid to this wonderful champion.