Superstar mare Winx makes her much-anticipated return to the track in Saturday’s Warwick Stakes (Race 7) over 1400m at Randwick.
A faultless autumn preparation culminated in a career defining effort in the Doncaster to make it nine wins in a row and we fully expect her to assert her dominance on the weekend.
Trainer Chris Waller courted some controversy after it was only revealed last week that she had a bone chip removed from her near fore fetlock in the aftermath of that race, although he has moved to assure the public that the treatment will have no impact on her racing ability.
Winx had the benefit of two quiet trials to round off her preparation and while her odds are for the big-hitters only, we’re struggling to come up with a way she can be beaten.
Lucia Valentina (pictured above) took advantage of Winx’s scratching to surge to victory in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and she’s come up on the second line of betting.
But we tend to agree with Kris Lees’ assessment that the likely lack of any real tempo diminishes her chances of an upset.
Our traders have a big opinion of the horse though and her battle with Winx in the Cox Plate could prove to be one of the real talking points of the spring carnival.
Of the others, Rebel Dane let punters down in the Missile Stakes and although he should be better suited on a drier track, it’s hard to see him measuring up to the leading pair.
The likes of Who Shot TheBarman and Grand Marshal will surely find this a bit too short as they look to build towards staying races later in their preparations.
Warwick Stakes Tips:
1 – Winx
2 – Lucia Valentina
3 – Hartnell
Tips and Preview provided by UniBet.com.au
