Just as she had done at her previous 26 starts, Winx took on any horses who wanted to challenge her in Saturday’s G1 George Main Stakes at Randwick, gave them a start and delivered a beating.
All that remained to do was to roll the numbers over: 31 wins, 27 in succession, a world record 20 G1s and almost A$20 million.
There will always be discussion on how good she is, or isn’t. But surely there isn’t a horse on earth who deserves her World Champion title as much as she does.
As often happens, Winx appeared vulnerable when she was shaken up to go out after the leaders at the 300m.
But as always, she responded, gathering in the front-runners, cruising past them and then maintaining a four-length margin over Le Romain (Hard Spun), himself a three-time G1 winner.
The daughter of the Godolphin racehorse and Darley stallion Street Cry will now press on toward her ultimate spring goal, the G1 Cox Plate in which she will be attempting an unprecedented fourth win.
An emotional trainer Chris Waller rated the seven-year-old mare’s win as good as any of her other 30.
"She's got some gears. It keeps going to a new level every time. She's a superstar,” Waller said.
Waller would not commit to Winx's next start, except to say it would be in Melbourne.
Regular rider Hugh Bowman said Winx was his once-in-a-lifetime horse.
"We'll be lucky to see another one like her, while I'm alive anyway, I think that is a given. How lucky I am to be involved with such a horse,” he said.
