MY CALL: WINX PRODUCES SOME COX PLATE MAGIC

By David Fowler | Tuesday, October 25, 2016

David Fowler is the principal thoroughbred caller for Radio TAB. David, who is a keen form student and punter, has enjoyed a lifetime involvement in the racing media. His personal blog, ‘My Call’, appears exclusively on HRO.

How good is Winx in the whole scheme of things?

Drawing a comparison between champions of different eras is fraught with danger.

I didn't see dual Cox Plate winning mares Flight and Tranquil Star, naturally, but modern era heroines Sunline and Makybe Diva are the most obvious to line up against Winx to test the theory out.

Personally, Makybe Diva's three Melbourne Cup victories is still Mount Everest for me.

Sunline doesn't land too far behind.

Of course, they are long gone and their complete CV is laid bare. Remember, Winx still has at least a couple of seasons of exciting Australian audiences so a final comparison can't be made.

Other pertinent questions raised over the weekend are worth mentioning.

Could Winx win a Melbourne Cup and is she beating B graders, albeit by whopping margins?

Both will create plenty of robust conversation in clubs and pubs.

But facts and figures aside, being trackside for both of her Cox Plate triumphs will be two of my greatest moments in the racing game.

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You remember how brilliantly Hartnell was going before the Cox Plate showdown?

Got all excited when he walloped Jameka in the Turnbull and she thrashed her Caulfield Cup rivals.

Winx beat Hartnell by eight lengths in the Cox Plate.

I keep telling myself this.

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I just shake my head at some people.

"Don't run on Friday night, the fence was off on Saturday," they wail and wane.

Let's deal with the Friday Saturday schedule first of all.

It's a commercial winner for the Moonee Valley Racing Club who promote night racing brilliantly.

One of the few innovations that has brought the younger demographic along for the ride.

And yet it's often these same killjoys who say racing is doing nothing to promote itself.

The atmosphere is outstanding and you can't wait to return in 12 hours.

The second issue about the "fence being off" really gets on my nerves.

If you think it's so, well deal with it and adjust your betting. Is that too hard?

And it's an accepted rule of thumb the wider is better when the rail is true. Wet or dry, two meetings or one.

I'd just point out Flemington runs four meetings in seven days on Cup week and the Warrnambool carnival runs three days in a row.

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Racing Queensland has done an outstanding job in the preparation of this year’s Summer Carnival.

While we acknowledge Magic Millions as Grand Final Day, the lead up meetings from mid November are rippers.

The various $500,000 Summer Crown bonuses are not impossible to win and the Villiers-Bernborough bonus is enticing.

The feature days are interspersed with the State Of Origin Jockeys Challenge which was highly popular in its inception last year.

The state can now rightfully boast two powerful Carnivals annually.

David Fowler