Australian Champion Racemare Winx wins Doncaster Mile at Randwick

Winx, the winner of last season's Cox Plate, extended her winning sequence in the Group One Doncaster Mile at Randwick.

Chris Waller's mare has been hailed as a champion following the performance but it was far from plain sailing.

She looked in trouble with three furlongs to run but Hugh Bowman angled her through a gap a furlong and a half from home and she didn't need a second invitation.

To a rising crescendo from the crowd, she hit top gear in a matter of strides and was in front not long past the furlong pole.

Happy Clapper finished strongly in the centre of the course while Azkadellia tried to challenge up her inside but Winx kept them both at bay and went on to score by two lengths with Happy Clapper winning a photo for minor honours.

It was a fourth consecutive Doncaster Mile victory for the trainer, matching Gai Waterhouse's winning streak between 1994-1997.

"She's just a horse," Waller told www.racenet.au. "I'll call her a champion.

"It's unbelievable. We took on the handicapper. Does it get any better?"

Waller must decide during the week whether Winx turns out next Saturday in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) which is also run at Randwick.

"We'll see how much today takes out of her," he continued. "I've never asked her to recover quickly."

Bowman continues to produce Group One winning rides as a jockey at the top of his game.

"I can really understand what people that have had other champion race horses go through when they come to the races because the expectation is to win and you have so much confidence in the horse and you have confidence in yourself too," Bowman said.

"I'll be honest today. It was the first time in any time I have ridden her that half way through the race I was concerned because the worn track, it's racing on the worst side of soft in my opinion, race nine today, it's had a fair bit of use.

"She wasn't overly comfortable in it so the fact that she wasn't comfortable and still produced that finish is something of only a horse of champion qualities can do."

Winx's Doncaster win was her ninth successive victory, six of which have come in Group Ones, and the 13th win of her career. 

Elsewhere on the card, Chautauqua defended his crown in the TJ Smith Stakes over six furlongs when coming from last to first. 

He is now set to head overseas and will join compatriot Buffering in Hong Kong next month for the Group One Chairman's Sprint Prize.