COLGATE OPTIC WHITE STAKES (GROUP 1)

HARD ridden 700 metres from home in the Colgate Optic White Stakes, Winx has baffled us once again with her three card trick. Presenting us with a plausible defeat, she swiftly dealt a winning hand.

Setting out from the Randwick mile, she was lengths from the lead as the field swung into the straight. As eyes drifted forward to see who was shaping for a remarkable win, the ‘Street Cry flash’ ran through her gears and brazenly had the race in hand with 150 metres to run, justifying her $1.12 starting price and setting a race-record in the process.

The Epsom Handicap favourite Happy Clapper, by Teofilo, was hot on her tail yielding a touch more than a length on the line and her stablemate, the Foxwedge mare Foxplay, grabbed third, a further four lengths away. The win, her 20th in a row, her 24th overall and 13th Group 1 passes a mark set by another great Street Cry mare, Zenyatta, who won 19 straight.

“She just throws the book out the window,” said Chris Waller, with Winx now trailing only Black Caviar for consecutive wins in Australia. Winx is likely to run next at Flemington on October 7th ahead of the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley two weeks later.

Looking further ahead, Waller said: “I look forward to a possible trip overseas but no decision on this will be made until after the George Ryder Stakes (in March). Providing she is well, she will run during The Championships in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (April 8th) and look to target a race during Royal Ascot or be freshened up subsequent to the George Ryder Stakes and be targeted towards a European campaign containing three races over a range of distances.”

Winx is likely to be covered in the Northern hemisphere.

WINX’S DAM

Remarkably, just hours after Saturday’s win, Winx’s dam, the Al Akbar mare Vegas Showgirl, foaled down an Exceed And Excel filly at Segenhoe Stud. “She’s a big strong filly, beautiful head, very good legs,” said Peter O’Brien. “The unusual thing about Winx when she was born, she was up on her feet in about 10-15 minutes, which is quite unusual for a newborn. This foal was up in 12 minutes, so hopefully that’s a good sign.”

REDZEL SHINES

Peter and Paul Snowden were guaranteed an Everest runner before Saturday with the Triple Crown Syndications managed Snitzel gelding Redzel getting a slot. Those stocks rose though on Saturday after Redzel broke the Randwick track record in The Shorts, an 1,100-metre Group 2, after running Ball Of Muscle (Dubawi) and Nieta (Nicconi) off their feet.

Further down the track another Everest runner caught the eye, Chautauqua. Motoring home on a ‘good 3’ surface, not his ideal, the grey was a closing two lengths away in seventh. “If it was 1,200 metres today he probably runs over the top of them,” said jockey Brenton Avdulla.

The James Cummings-trained Alizee staked a strong case for the Group 1 Flight Stakes in two weeks’ time with a well-timed win in Saturday’s Group 2 Tea Rose Stakes at Randwick over 1,400 metres. Ridden by Glyn Schofield, the Sepoy filly was strong late to break the deadlock between Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt), Cellargirl (More Than Ready) and Tulip (Pierro) as that trio trialled Alizee by a length and a quarter.