The Right Guy

LOTS TO LIKE ABOUT WINX

GREG TOBIN

Let’s face it, the view from the rear vision mirror is always a lot clearer than the road ahead. As that wise old punter, Socrates, once said, “hindsight is 20-20”.

For instance, at the 2013 Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale, 714 youngsters would be sold, of which 570 became winners. Among the many success stories, quite a few won Group Ones and a whole lot more were successful at stakes level.

Yet only one of them was Winx. And, given we’re only ever likely to see one like her in our lifetimes, it’s a good one to hang your hat on.

But what made Lot 329 – the Street Cry filly from Vegas Showgirl – stand out from, say, the yearling in the ring immediately beforehand (sold to Hong Kong for $260,000) or the colt sold two lots after which was knocked down for $320,000?

Peter O’Brien, who was ground control for Coolmore Australia at the time, had an inkling that the filly might be something out of the box. Bred by his good mate, John Camilleri, O’Brien was there when the filly foaled and reckons she was up on her feet in 10 minutes. That really is “highly unusual” and we eagerly await the reconstruction in ‘Winx – the movie’.

Fast forward the clock by 14 months and when the filly made it into the Gold Coast ring late on a Thursday afternoon, film records show that bidding kicked off at $40,000 before, all up, people raised the finger 19 times: the yearling eventually knocked down for $230,000.

There were no cheers, no drum roll … after all, 60 other yearlings would sell for more money at the Gold Coast in 2013.

As for the number of actual underbidders? The true number is never likely to surface but suffice to say there are a lot more of them in January 2019 then there were in January 2013.

Rumour has it that one of the underbidders was trainer, Gerald Ryan who would instead buy an Encosta de Lago colt they named Rubick, who went on to win multiple Group races – one of those at two – and later be sold to stud for millions.

The successful bidder though was Magic Bloodstock which had commissioned leading bloodstock agent, Guy Mulcaster, to buy them a filly “around the $200,000 mark”.

Mulcaster is the first to admit that when it comes to buying yearlings, we can all admire the chassis, but none of us can lift the bonnet. That said, Mulcaster has a mighty successful ‘eye’.

Although it wasn’t a decisive factor, Mulcaster had seen Winx’s mum, Vegas Showgirl race to multiple stakes success at two in New Zealand, but had his first real good look at the Street Cry filly when visiting Coolmore before the sale.

“I inspect the vast majority of Gold Coast yearlings in the months leading into the sale and that’s whittled down to about 30% of the catalogue by the time you get to the actual sale,” Mulcaster explains. “After another round of inspections, the list moves down to some 70 or 80 yearlings and that’s when you then do your best to ‘value’ them, leaving you with a short list of around 25 to 30.

“We ended up buying six at the sale.”

(Aside from Winx, another among the six was Amicus, who won a Group One Thousand Guineas over $800,000 and is part-owned by Winx’s part-owner, Debbie Kepitis. You might have seen her before … smallish woman. Glasses. Wears purple. Cheers a lot. Also known as the face of all that is fun about Australian racing).

Mulcaster gives us all hope though by suggesting there was no sudden epiphany about Winx. Nothing magical. Well, not at yearling stage.

“She got through,” Mulcaster says simply. “She had a lot about her that was right, but there was nothing that amazing.”

Nothing clearly that said buy me and I’ll win four Cox Plates!Mulcaster works in closely with good friend and

fellow Kiwi, Chris Waller, whom we now like to claim as our own … along with Phar Lap, Russell Crowe – the Gladiator version – and Keith Urban.

So, with his insider knowledge, when did Mulcaster first realise that Winx was going to be well, um, Winx?

“She just kept improving every step of the way,” Mulcaster adds. “She was acceptable at two (winning two from two), showed a lot of good signs at three (winning the Furious and Phar Lap at Group Two level, along with seconds in the Flight and ATC Oaks), but then she went up to Queensland and, the rest as they say, is history.”

History alright! The ‘streak’ began on 16 May 2015 when she ran in the Group Three Sunshine Coast Guineas and was ridden by veteran jockey, Larry Cassidy.

Driving home that night, Cassidy rang his wife, telling her he had just piloted an equine Ferrari, adding “she might be the best horse I’ve ever ridden”. It’s probably worth noting that Cassidy had previously piloted a pretty good horse by the name of Sunline.

An inauspicious start perhaps as the Sunshine Coast Guineas generated little publicity, but Winx has practically been a headline maker ever since.

The Queensland Oaks would follow – the first of 22 Group One victories (yes, a world record) – and so would three Chipping Nortons, three George Mains, three George Ryders (what is it with George?), two Queen Elizabeths, two Turnbulls, a Doncaster, an Epsom, a Winx!, a Caulfield Stakes and, of course, four Cox Plates.

By the time of that fourth Cox Plate she had remained undefeated for almost 1300 days, had beaten 69 individual Group One winners and won $22,934,920 … the highest stakes tally in Australian history and the second greatest haul in world history.

Speaking of the ‘world’, Winx was adjudged the best racehorse on the planet throughout 2018.

But statistics can be so clinical … they write the history to be sure, but are only really half the story. The other half?

Maybe it’s her sheer tenacity … particularly when, as it has on occasion, all appeared lost. Maybe it’s the ever cool and calm hoop, Hugh Bowman, who forms the now traditional ‘o’ with forefinger and thumb, or his wife Christine’s ‘I can see your tonsils’ joy as Winx crosses the line.

Maybe it’s Debbie K, who Normie Rowe surely had in mind when he sang Shakin’ All Over.

Maybe it’s Chris Waller who tears up every.single.time. Hey, get with the program guys – it’s OK for men to cry. Some of us cry because we don’t train Winx!

Maybe it’s the quiet dignity of her strapper Umut Odemislioglu who has taught her Turkish, just as surely as she has taught him Horse.

Or maybe it’s simply the kid perched on his dad’s shoulders, resplendent in Winx silks and waving a Winx flag? Maybe he’ll live to a 100 and never see her like again.

It does appear inconceivable that her four Cox Plates will ever be matched, but really, does it matter? Is she as good as Phar Lap. Kingston Town. Black Caviar? Who cares?

For after all, she is racing’s very essence. Its pulse.

Six years ago she was one of over 700 youngsters who went through the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale ring and now she’s the best racehorse in the world. Long may she reign.