Winx on the beach: wondermare wears Cox Plate efforts better than connections

It is the morning after the night before and Winx has pulled out better than anyone. Her historic fourth win in the Cox Plate is just hours old but plenty look like they had a harder race.

"She's feeling better than me," jokes her work-rider Ben Cadden as he swings his leg over and guides her down to Altona Beach for her post-race stroll in the sea.

Part-owner Peter Tighe describes himself as "pretty bloody dusty", which is an expression used by particularly hungover Australians, and Debbie Kepitis knows she has "certainly felt better".

While her people partied Winx did not touch a drop and got an early night, such is the life of a racehorse.

There is an incredible contrast between the two moments. From the adoration of 38,000-plus racegoers at Moonee Valley 14 and a half hours earlier lauding the horse many are labelling Australia's greatest, to the tranquillity and hushed awe of less than 50 or so media and hardcore fans that have made the pilgrimage to this out-of-the-way beach at 7.30am on a Sunday just to be in her presence.

The isolation, her calm nature and the beauty of the setting, with shards of sunlight breaking through the clouds as she splashes in the sea, only intensifies the special feeling of being so close to greatness. To get near enough to look Winx in the eye, and see her look back, is one hell of an experience.

If she looked any of her owners in the eye she may have noticed a heavy glazing, as they were up until 2am celebrating before falling asleep with the replay on loop.

Yet here they are "freezing our threepenny bits off" for a photoshoot with their pride and joy and her unprecedented four Cox Plates.

Credit: Stuart Riley

Tighe says: "You never win four Cox Plates, this is the first time anyone's ever seen four Cox Plates and I think it'll be a hell of a long time before we see it again, probably not in our lifetime. Hopefully everyone's enjoying it as much as we are."

The Winx camp have campaigned her in the manner racing fans like to think they would if they ever had one so good, and he adds: "We used to dream like that too, we used to want to own a horse like her, we watched all the previous champions race and it's a bit surreal to be part of this journey. One day we'll get the full realisation of what happened but at the moment it's still sinking in.

"It's a tribute to Chris Waller and his team, and we have to mention Hughie Bowman. We're here holding the plates but we've got the easy job, they do all the hard work behind the scenes. And of course Winx has put her heart and soul into her job and makes all of us look good."

It is not just the owners, trainer and jockey who have put everything in to getting Winx to achieve the unthinkable and Kepitis was keen to acknowledge those behind the scenes.

"Ben Cadden's been down here without his family for a month, Umut [Odemislioglu – Winx's groom] really doesn't have a girlfriend, just Winx. How lucky are we?" she says.

"They've put their lives on hold to live this amazing dream and we want to celebrate with them when the time comes for her to be a mum."

In winning on Saturday, Winx extended her streak to ten consecutive Group 1s and elevated herself from the company she was keeping with Frankel, Zenyatta and Hurricane Fly, who sit on nine.

"They're pretty good company," says Kepitis, before letting loose with her infectious laugh. "To be fair you don't get stallions running on, she's a mare and you can keep them going. It's a great record and we'll celebrate that she's done it, but all the others are brilliant."

They picked her up for A$230,000 and she has now taken her career earnings past the A$22 million mark, the purchase price described by by Tighe, with a touch of understatement, as a "steal".

She has become the nation's sweetheart, and of the reception she received on Saturday he adds: "It's testament to her. People here in Australia love a champion and she's one hell of a champion. She's transcending the sport, taking it to greater things and as horseracing lovers we love to see that.

"I liken it to a footy match, you go there and you've got a 50-50 split in the crowd. Yesterday there was 99.9 per cent going for one athlete in one event, there's nothing like that, you can't compare it to anything else.

"The crowd was fantastic and the atmosphere was just electric the whole afternoon. It wasn't just when the race was on, it was before, during and after. It just created something that we'll be a long time creating again."

Winx's aura is incredible. Whether it's the way she conducts 38,000-odd people into such a euphoric state or the quiet admiration when stood ankle deep in the sea watching her walk around you, there is something magical about her.

To get weighed down in the weights and measures of the form book is to miss the point of Winx. The atmosphere she creates wherever she goes and the emotions she stirs are unlike anything you have ever been made to feel by a horse before.

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