The world’s highest-ranked racehorse, Winx, took herself to a new level at Moonee Valley on Saturday, winning a fourth G1 Cox Plate and her 29th consecutive race.
And as she raced her way into history, she took Darley and Godolphin with her.
Winx, a daughter of the ill-fated Darley stallion Street Cry, led home Godolphin’s Benbatl, a son of Dubawi, with Humidor, who is by Teofilo in third place, giving Darley stallions the first three in the race for a second successive year.
To cap a great result in Australia’s best race, the locally-trained Godolphin runner Avilius finished fourth.
Winx won the Cox Plate by two lengths, the victory making her the world’s greatest ever money earner.
The seven-year-old has won 33 races in all, 22 at G1, with Saturday’s first prize taking her racetrack earnings to just short of A$23 million.
Winx had the race in her keeping almost from the time the field jumped away in the 2040m race.
With the Irish runner Rostropovich and the local D’Argento matching strides in front for the first 1600m, Jockey Hugh Bowman had Winx travelling comfortably in fifth place.
As Benbatl and Oisin Murphy eased three wide to make their run, Winx pounced, joining the Godolphin runner in a couple of strides and then drawing clear 150m out.
Benbatl, a three-time G1 winner this year, fought back, but had no answer.
Humidor, runner-up in the same race a year ago ran nicely for third with Avilius turning in a good Melbourne Cup trial in finishing fourth.
