INSIDE WINX'S WORLD WITH CO-OWNER PETER TIGHE

By Peter Tighe | Wednesday, September 12, 2018

The best rated horse in the world, the record breaking, mighty mare Winx, is lining up her approach to the 2018 Cox Plate where she will seek to become the first four-time winner of the $5 million Weight-For-Age Championship when the race is contested at Moonee Valley on October 27. In an HRO exclusive, in a series of weekly blogs leading up to the big race, Peter Tighe, one of the co-owners of Winx, will give HRO readers an insight into the life behind the scenes as an of an owner of a champion and the wonderful path that Winx’s career has followed. In this first offering Peter looks back at how they found Winx and how the early part of her career evolved.

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“Winx was bought by me and knocked down to my company Magic Bloodstock at the 2013 Magic Millions Sales. She cost $230 00.

“I wasn’t exactly certain how hard to go with the bidding because I was also buying her on behalf of Debbie Kepitis and Richard Treweeke but they were happy to go with what I did. It is a game of fine lines but it was obviously a good decision.

"I’m not sure who the underbidder was but that was about the limit to where we were going price-wise so we were very happy to get her then. Obviously we had no idea what was to come but we thought she was a good purchase.

“Winx’s sire, Street Cry, needs no introduction. He won the Dubai Cup in 2002 and he has a string of Group 1 winning progeny. Her dam, Vegas Showgirl, was a stakes winner in New Zealand and it from her that Winx got her name.

“Winx was named by Richard Treweeke. He tells the story that in the sixties and seventies in Vegas, when the showgirls came out if they liked you they winked at you and if you liked them you winked back. It’s a bit of a tale but, yeah, that’s how she got the name Winx.

“What’s in a name really, except in Winx’s case it is a name that will go into racing folklore as setting a new standard of achievement.

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“I’ve been with Chris Waller for about ten years so the horse was always going to his stable.

“Winx was unbeaten in two starts as a two-year-old. She then won a Group 2 early on as a three-year-old and ran placed and unplaced in other Group 2 and Group 1 events in the first half of her three-year-old season.

“Chris had identified her as having potential but who knew how far she was going to go. He was testing her out over different distance in different classes.

“We knew she could run but at that stage her program was really no different to any other horse. You set them a task of running in a Group 3 or a Group 2 race. If they are up to the challenge you can move on to Group 2’s and Group 1’s … and also Chris was finding out what the best distance was for her.

“Those two and three-year-old years are always about finding out as much as you can about the horse, its best distance and what level you think you can take it to.

“Chris worked those things out and then of course we came to the Sunshine Coast Guineas and the Queensland Oaks towards the end of her three-year-old campaign and suddenly we were off and running and no horse has been able to lower her colours since then.

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“Hugh Bowman has obviously played a big part in Winx’s run of success. Again, that relationship evolved over a bit of time.

“While Chris was in that learning curve with Winx earlier in her career, no less than ten jockeys got to ride her in races or official barrier trials … that is in the sixteen-month period from May 12, 2014 to September 12, 2015. Those jockeys were Jimmy and Larry Cassidy, Jason Collett, Nash Rawiller, Glyn Schofield, Blake Shinn, Tommy Berry, Joao Moreira, James McDonald and Hugh Bowman.

“By way of contrast, in the last three years only one man has sat on her back in a barrier trial or race.

“In the early days, as I said, Winx was just going through the same process as any other horse. At the time she really started to thrive Hugh Bowman was the number one jockey in the stable. His association had become quite strong with Chris Waller and therefore he was getting the pick of the rides.

“Chris was very happy with Hugh. Hugh was doing very nicely with Chris so it was just natural for Chris, Hugh and Winx to come together at that time. Winx has shown natural progression since that time and she has probably benefitted from the advantage of having a set rider which has allowed horse and rider to build up a strong understanding.

“You will find most of the past champions had riders who had a great affinity with all of those great horses … be it Glen Boss, Like Nolen, Jimmy Cassidy and others. They rode them where they could but some did miss out on occasions because of suspensions, injuries or because of the weight the horse would carry.

“So, it is unusual for Hugh to have ridden Winx in so many wins but, by targeting so many weight-for age-races, it suits Hugh Bowman to be riding at those weights.

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“For us, contrary to what some people might think even given her superb record, it is never a case of thinking we will just turn up and win. Every race is different. She has to compete every time.

“We really go out there just to enjoy the game and obviously Winx has brought us massive enjoyment. We don’t go to the races expecting to win or expecting to lose. We go there on sort of an even keel with the express hope that horse and rider come back safely.

“Going into any race, we know she has been expertly prepared by Chris and we’ve got Hughie up. What more can we ask for. We are there to enjoy the day and absorb whatever pressure comes our way, but we do nullify the worrying effect of that pressure to a large degree by not setting store on any great expectations.

“My wife and I didn’t set out to invest in horses to make lots of money. We did it to have a past-time that we both enjoy so as long as the horse and rider stay safe we are there to simply enjoy the day and take whatever comes our way.

“It might sound cliché, but Winx is just a great story for racing and that’s how I like to see it. We love racing and therefore we want racing to be in the forefront of sport. It is a pleasure to see how everybody shares in the ‘ownership’ of Winx.

“They watch her all around the country. They applaud her wherever they are watching for what she has done and for what she is doing.

“We hope that still continues for a little period of time and that people remember it and that it has some residual, positive effect on people who come to the races to see great champions … and, of course, on the sport of racing itself.”

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