Australian racing has had its share of champion horses including undefeated superstar Black Caviar, but is the current number one Winx better?
Comparisons are there to be made between former superstar sprinter Black Caviar (pictured) and current wonder mare Winx. Photo: Race Horse Photos Australia.
The Peter Moody-trained Black Caviar was a sprint queen winning all 25 of her career starts over a distance range of 1000 – 1400m, retiring with just shy of $8 million in prize money for connections.
Her incredible winning streak included 15 Group 1 victories, the last of which was in Sydney’s TJ Smith Stakes in April of 2013 at Royal Randwick.
Four years on from the retirement of Black Caviar, Winx races at her pet Randwick track this afternoon chasing a seventeenth straight win in the $4 million Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
Fans are running out of superlatives when they talk about Chris Waller’s five-year-old daughter of Street Cry who is already third on the all-time prize money earners’ list with her $10.4 million.
She will surpass fellow dual Cox Plate hero Sunline and sit second only to triple Melbourne Cup champion Makybe Diva if she salutes for the punters in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Prize money wise then, it is one to Winx and none to Black Caviar.
Winx has been defeated, unlike Black Caviar who never finished behind another horse under race conditions, but many believe the class of rivals she has beaten home in her 20 overall career wins is better than that of the Black Caviar era.
Early on, Moody’s stable ace came up against plenty of greats including of course Hay List.
He could never quite match it with the mighty mare and that great rivalry fizzled out in time.
As it it looked more and more apparent the racing world was looking at a genuine sprint freak, the quality of competition began to drop off for Black Caviar.
The size of the fields she was beating to the line also became diminutive.
True, Winx is starting to scare off rivals numbers-wise – she faces just eight in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes today – but they are certainly not donkeys.
Last time out on a Heavy (10) track she defeated Le Romain (2nd) and subsequent triple TJ Smith Stakes winner Chautauqua (3rd) by over seven lengths in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m).
Is that another tick for Winx?
She is fast approaching the 15 Group 1 wins of Black Caviar too, looking a shoo-in for her 12th elite level title in the Queen Elizabeth.
Her versatility is also most impressive.
While Moody was never game enough to test the hulking Black Caviar over further than 1400m, Winx has won from 1100m – 2200m and has done it with the effortless ease of a true athlete.
The 1400m test for Black Caviar was in the Group 1 CF Orr Stakes (1400m) in 2012.
Her over three length success at prohibitive odds of $1.04 suggested that had she wanted to, a mile would not have been out of reach.
What Black Caviar did do and what Winx is yet to do is win at an international level.
The team took her to Royal Ascot in June of 2012 and the world got a taste of the wonder from down under.
It was the closest Black Caviar came to being defeated when she took every centimetre of the race to get to the line ahead of Moonlight Cloud in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee (1200m).
Jockey Luke Nolen was there making history on his favourite horse and was rubbished for his ride from the wide barrier (14 of 14).
But, he was given the chance to atone back on home soil riding Black Caviar for three more victories before we waved the famous black and salmon polka dot flags for a final time.
Will Waller and connections head overseas with Winx?
There were earlier chats of a Royal Ascot campaign this year, but Waller has all but ruled that out now focusing instead of targeting a third Cox Plate trophy in Melbourne during the spring.
It is hard to make comparisons between such different mares.
Black Caviar’s downside was her ability to be injured easily when racing.
She is a mare made of muscle, with her famous big booty producing that powerful finish.
To look at Winx, she isn’t exactly a standout physically, but we all know what kind of motor she has got hiding in there.
There are camps for both Black Caviar and Winx, but many find the call of who is the best racehorse too hard to make.
Caught up in Winx fever though, Racing NSW Chairman Peter V’Landys thinks he knows.
“We’ve been fortunate to have two champions in this era in Black Caviar and Winx,” he told News Corp.
“I thought Black Caviar was a one of a kind because she really captured everyone in the sporting world, everyone knew Black Caviar even if you didn’t follow racing.
“You can’t really compare the two but maybe Winx is a little better.”
Check out the latest Winx racing odds now at Ladbrokes.com.au and get behind the champion to continue the fairy tale.
