Winx out, but did Waller make the right choice?

Apr 5, 2016
3 min read

Since the news of Winx's scratching from this Saturday's Queen Elizabeth came out this morning, people on social media have been debating whether or not Chris Waller and connections made the right decision. The general feeling on Twitter, at least, is that they made the right choice in placing the welfare of the horse before a potentially massive payday come Saturday afternoon.

Waller said the decision to scratch was due to concern that "the winning run from the Doncaster did require a lot of effort, which is hard to quantify, but visibly looking at her, I - as the trainer - can see a horse that although is 90%, is not 100% her normal self."

"She is a horse that has exceptional talent, but I feel she only has that talent due to the amount of effort she puts in to her races. Expecting her to back up after a tough run in the Doncaster in a seven day period over 2000m against a weight for age field would be expecting too much of a horse that puts so much determination in to her races."

Waller acknowledged that he and connections are aware of the public profile of the star mare. "I am very mindful that the public want to see her race on Saturday, but I am more mindful that the public get to see her race next preparation and beyond."

She will now be sent for a spell, with the Spring riches in Sydney and Melbourne (mainly the Cox Plate) firmly in her sights.

Now, I doubt there would be many people that could argue a valid point for pressing on to the Queen Elizabeth after reading these reasons presented by Chris Waller and connections. However, is there a case to argue that they made the wrong decision in running in the Doncaster in the first place?

It had been widely stated that the $4m Queen Elizabeth was the main goal of Winx's Autumn preparation, so why not stick with the plan? Of course, it is tricky to mount a case against the decision, with Winx winning the $3m Doncaster in devastating fashion last Saturday.

My case, however, is this - currently she is the best weight for age horse in the country, perhaps even the world, and showed in the Cox Plate that she is exceptional over 2000m. The Queen Elizabeth is worth $1m more than the Doncaster, is far kinder to her at the weight scale, and is supposed to be the gold standard for racing and the pin up race of The Championships. Also, when you compare the acceptances for both races, the Queen Elizabeth is noticeably devoid of top end talent, where as the Doncaster presented a host of light weight chances who looked a chance to cause some headaches.

In addition, the Queen Elizabeth has failed to attract the star overseas horses the directors of The Championships desperately wanted to, and now the scratching of Winx leaves the field looking disappointing, given the 'jewel of The Championships' status it is supposed to have.

Lets also spare a moment of thought for one punter, Brad (@Horsemiller3), who stood to gain upwards of $150k if she was to win the Queen Elizabeth. Unfortunately, his many multi bets ending in Winx were in all-in markets, meaning its a big donut for poor Brad.