Equine superstar Winx will make her final campaign appearance in Saturday’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick and she is understandably dominating betting ahead of the $4 million feature race.
Winx is undefeated for close to three years; an incredible run of form which has spanned twenty-four starts and seventeen Group 1 races, highlighted by her three-consecutive Cox Plate wins.
Having resumed this time for an easy win in the Group 1 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m), the Street Cry mare completed her lead-in to the Queen Elizabeth Stakes by beating some of the country’s best horses in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) three weeks ago, and she will be extremely difficult to beat at her pet distance again, and third-up on Saturday.
Having drifted to $1.18 odds after drawing the outside barrier, Winx has firmed back into $1.16 in our Queen Elizabeth market. Back Winx to win the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Neds however and if she salutes, your winnings will be doubled! Max bet $100.
There is no other horse currently available at Queen Elizabeth Stakes odds of less-than $10, but outstanding gallopers Humidor ($11) and Happy Clapper ($12) occupy the next two lines and loom as Winx’s biggest danger in the feature race.
Humidor came within a head of delivering Winx her first defeat for more than two years in last year’s Cox Plate and he is ready for another big performance in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
The Teofilo gelding ran home well to finish fourth in the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) first-up this time and relished a return to a mile when an easy winner of the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) second-up on March 17th.
He was charged with carrying topweight in last weekend’s Doncaster Mile and despite weathering a tough run in transit, finished a credible sixth.
Master trainer Darren Weir always has a perfect sense of timing when setting his horses for big races and jockey Blake Shinn will jump off Happy Clapper to pilot Humidor from the rails draw on Saturday.
Happy Clapper has become a cult hero of the Australian turf and he appears to be the most-likely horse to finishing in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes quinella with Winx.
Happy Clapper has been a strong and consistent performer throughout his entire racing career so far, but finally broke through for a well-deserved Group 1 win in the Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick last October.
Having doubled his tally when an impressive winner of the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) first-up this time, the son of Teofilo ran a strong second behind Winx in the George Ryder second-up before returning to winning form with another dominant performance in the Doncaster Mile last weekend.
Trainer Pat Webster has always had a big opinion of his horse and Happy Clapper will take plenty of beating again in Saturday’s Autumn Carnival feature.
The Queen Elizabeth will have an international flavour this year after quality European Success Days ($34) and Kiwi raider Consensus ($81) were both confirmed as starters.