Winx Result Suggests an Interesting Spring

Sometimes – more often than not, ironically, during the reign of Winx – one walks away from Group 1 races with a sense of déjà vu. That was certainly not the case in this year’s Winx Stakes which produced a blanket finish (the first eight were separated by 2.5-lengths) and a myriad separate hard luck stories. The sad demise of Brandenburg (Burgundy) aside, and who’s to say he wouldn’t have won, the take-away is that we’re in for a massive spring. Mo’Unga (Savabeel) is every bit as good as he’d flagged when winning the Gr1 Rosehill Guineas, except this time he did it in weight-for-age company adding that all important tick to his CV as a future stallion. Despite a puzzling market drift, Verry Elleegant (Zed) ran as well as could be expected after being far closer in the run than is customary and caught facing the breeze down the back. Relishing the helter-skelter pace, swoopers She’s Ideel (Dundeel) and Fierce Impact’s full-brother Keiai Nautique (Deep Impact) in his Australian debut were impressive. Kolding (Ocean Park) and Imaging (Oasis Dream) did enough to suggest they’re where they need to be. Then come the what-if stories for which one needs to go back to the 350m mark. It’s there that Think It Over (So You Think) appeared to execute an exit-stage-left manoeuvre, giving Hungry Heart (Frankel) a decent bump that pushed her into Master of Wine (Maxios) who then checked Cascadian (New Approach) just when he was beginning to make his run. Forced to choose just one to follow besides the first two home, there’d be worse choices than Hungry Heart who was entitled to throw the towel in after being badly sandwiched, but finished off strongly over a distance that’s now short of her best.