THREE COX PLATES IN A ROW. THAT SAYS IT ALL

By Graham Potter | Monday, October 30, 2017

Three Cox Plates in a row ... that says it all with a thumping exclamation mark!

For all of the wonderful theatre that had gone before with Winx chasing down a defiant Red Excitement from a seemingly impossible position in the Chelmsford ... to a similar but ultimately more comfortable win over Happy Clapper in the George Main ... to the untroubled jog home in the Turnbull, the third Cox was always the summit that trainer Chris Waller had set his sights on for Winx during this particular campaign and on Saturday it was a case of ‘mission accomplished.’

The margin of victory ... far less than most aniticipated ... was of no consequence. The fact that the game Humidor did close and start to threaten Winx over the final 200m will stand to Humidor’s eternal credit, but all his challenge really did was underscore the extraordinary talent and mental toughness of the champion as Winx’s response ... her, ‘I will not be beaten mantra’ ... carried the day for the twenty-second time in a row in a new course record time.

It really was a magnificent spectacle and, when we all came out of our seats after tightening up halfway up the straight when Winx looked to be coming under pressure, it was with an exhilaration befitting of the occasion.

The outcome had met the expectation.

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Jockey Hugh Bowman tried to put the moment in perspective.

“Greg Childs (who rode Sunline to back to back Cox Plate wins) said to me after we won last year that nothing would prepare me for next year ... and he was right. It has been such a buildup.

“I was born the year that Kingston Town won his first Cox Plate (Kingston Town is the only other horse to win three Cox Plates). To think that Winx has now emulated the great Kingston Town leaves me lost for words to be honest.

“We are in the presence of greatness and Winx will be recognised as one of the greatest horses to grace the Australian turf. I can’t explain what it means to be part of her great career. That, and all of the well wishes I’ve received along the way ... it’s all very humbling.

“This thoroughbred has just brought so much joy to my life ... and to my family’s life. I just so very proud.

“Chris Waller has to take a lot of the credit. To be able to manage an animal like this ... to bring it back three years in a row and to get it to peak on this particular day is amazing.

"It’s all very well having a very good horse but to able to be so strategic in the management ... well, I’d just like to give him all of the credit he deserves and that’s to all of the staff who work for him too because it is a team effort.”

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Trainer Chris Waller understood the enormity of the achievement.

“I’ve been one of those people in the stand admiring the history of this race so it is very humbling to be on the other side looking at everybody and I just want to thank them all for embracing Winx like she’s one of their own.

“The last 400m the intensity builds in the race and that is when you expect her to start to show/ She did that today. It wasn’t an easy victory but she was in for the fight.

“She had to be good to fight off Humidor ... and others in the race. It was a fair dinkum Cox Plate.

“Being associated with these types of events ... that is a dream. Being associated with a horse like Winx ... that is your widest dream.

“I’m very proud of my team. I’m just blessed to be part of it.”

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