Get 2-1 for Winx to win Friday night’s Apollo
February 14th, 2019
Love Winx but not at a prohibitive odds-on price? TwinSpires.com is offering to pay out 2-1 if the world’s top-ranked horse extends her lengthy winning streak in Friday night’s Apollo (G2). Post time for the Apollo, the 6TH at Randwick (Australia B), is 11:50 p.m. (EST).
Just opt-in to be eligible. The offer is valid for a single Win bet (up to a $10 Win wager) on #5 Winx. See the full details here.
Since Winx invariably goes off at much shorter odds than her even-money morning line, and looms as by far the best of the eight-horse field, you could call it a gift. The Australian wonder mare was last seen winning her fourth straight Cox Plate (G1) on October 27, an unprecedented achievement that is unlikely ever to be equaled, never mind surpassed. That also happened to be her 29th win in a row. Sharing the honor of world’s best racehorse with the retired Cracksman, she remains the highest-rated still in training.
As a seven-year-old mare, Winx is now in the twilight of her career. Connections had thought carefully before deciding to go ahead with one final preparation this Australian autumn. For trainer Chris Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman, the daughter of Street Cry has given every positive sign that she’s in the same sparkling form.
A Winx-like performance would easily make it 30 straight, but aside from her stage of life, there are two other points to consider. The Apollo is a 1400-meter (about seven-furlong) race, the absolute minimum trip for Winx. And at times she has gotten off to less than perfect starts. Still, her blistering finishing speed has more than compensated for difficult tactical situations.
Casting about for a next-best, #8 Aloisia (40-1) comes off a hard-charging second in the Villiers (G2), where she missed by a head while giving seven pounds to the progressive gelding Sky Boy. The New Zealand-bred scored her career high in the 2017 Thousand Guineas (G1) over such high-class rivals as Shoals and Alizee, and she beat males next out in the Moonee Valley Vase (G2). She later lost her form, but at least part of her problem was hormonal. Her training team of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace put her on Regumate, and she responded with a bang-up effort in her latest. A repeat of that would put her in the frame here at a price.
No fewer than five of Winx’s rivals are her stablemates, the best being #6 Unforgotten (18-1), the Australian Oaks (G1) heroine and third to Hartnell in the Epsom H. (G1) two back September 29. The royally bred Fastnet Rock filly is sure to add to her resume this campaign.
Old warhorse #1 Happy Clapper (17-2) is arguably the most logical to round out the exacta, considering he’s a multiple Group 1 winner who’s proven over course and distance, played second fiddle to Winx before, and likely to have the advantage of being forwardly placed in a tactical race. On the other hand, he’s an eight-year-old resurfacing after two subpar runs last preparation. Fellow eight-year-old #4 Tom Melbourne (40-1), fresh off a comeback score over the track-and-trip Carrington January 26, also figures to be prominent.
As a seven-year-old mare, Winx is now in the twilight of her career. Connections had thought carefully before deciding to go ahead with one final preparation this Australian autumn. For trainer Chris Waller and jockey Hugh Bowman, the daughter of Street Cry has given every positive sign that she’s in the same sparkling form.
A Winx-like performance would easily make it 30 straight, but aside from her stage of life, there are two other points to consider. The Apollo is a 1400-meter (about seven-furlong) race, the absolute minimum trip for Winx. And at times she has gotten off to less than perfect starts. Still, her blistering finishing speed has more than compensated for difficult tactical situations.
Casting about for a next-best, #8 Aloisia (40-1) comes off a hard-charging second in the Villiers (G2), where she missed by a head while giving seven pounds to the progressive gelding Sky Boy. The New Zealand-bred scored her career high in the 2017 Thousand Guineas (G1) over such high-class rivals as Shoals and Alizee, and she beat males next out in the Moonee Valley Vase (G2). She later lost her form, but at least part of her problem was hormonal. Her training team of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace put her on Regumate, and she responded with a bang-up effort in her latest. A repeat of that would put her in the frame here at a price.
No fewer than five of Winx’s rivals are her stablemates, the best being #6 Unforgotten (18-1), the Australian Oaks (G1) heroine and third to Hartnell in the Epsom H. (G1) two back September 29. The royally bred Fastnet Rock filly is sure to add to her resume this campaign.
Old warhorse #1 Happy Clapper (17-2) is arguably the most logical to round out the exacta, considering he’s a multiple Group 1 winner who’s proven over course and distance, played second fiddle to Winx before, and likely to have the advantage of being forwardly placed in a tactical race. On the other hand, he’s an eight-year-old resurfacing after two subpar runs last preparation. Fellow eight-year-old #4 Tom Melbourne (40-1), fresh off a comeback score over the track-and-trip Carrington January 26, also figures to be prominent.ADVERTISEMENT
