Australian Horse of the Year Winx (Street Cry {Ire}) galloped at Caulfield Wednesday morning in advance of an intended start in the A$600,000 G1 Ladbrokes Caulfield S. Oct. 8, reported racing.com. Regular pilot Hugh Bowman was aboard for the work, which was conducted in company with G1 Thousand Guineas favorite Foxplay (Aus) (Foxwedge {Aus}). Winx will face just two rivals in the select field Saturday.
Trainer Chris Waller was unconcerned by the possibility of a small field and told racing.com, “It makes it easier in terms of interference, there is always an element of luck involved with racing, but it will be a quality field. The horses that are there deserve to be, it shouldn't really affect her though, pace wise, fast or slow she is adaptable, so I'm not too concerned.”
Added Hugh Bowman, “Tactics go out the window I feel a little bit with the small field, I can just be where I'm comfortable. It takes the pressure off as far as riding her goes, but in saying that I am mindful she has a big task ahead, regardless of this Saturday.”
Concerning her Caulfield gallop, Bowman said, “It was a pretty casual gallop this morning, just basically stretched her legs and let her have a look around the track. She did her main piece of work on Saturday morning in company, I was pleased with her then and she has traveled down well. She is ready to go, she is very alert, I noticed that before I got on her, in a new environment, she had the ears pricked.”
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