Winx comes with a storming late burst to run down Red Excitement

Australian wondermare Winx left it late but made it 19 wins on the bounce, running down the runaway leader Red Excitement inside the final 50 yards to further cement her status as a worldwide legend.

Turning into the short Randwick straight the gap between the two was six lengths, with Hugh Bowman still in fourth and getting after the 12-time Group 1 winner, while Joshua Parr continued to cruise along on the lead.

Parr kicked with a furlong and a half to run and by the time Winx got to that marker she was up into second but still some five lengths off the pace, while at the furlong pole she had narrowed the gap only by a further length and a thought flashed through the mind that had previously never been considered in her all-dominant run: could she get beaten?

Arrogate's woes this season have further highlighted how vulnerable even the very best can be but – with Bob Baffert's superstar underperforming – the spot of best racehorse in the world is back up for grabs and Winx thundered home to delight the crowd and further her case for deposing the Dubai World Cup winner from top spot.

Like a great magician, she pushed the audience to that moment of doubt before whipping away the cloak and revealing everything is alright. It seems even the man on board had his doubts. Bowman told Channel seven: "I wasn't worried last start but today I really was. When she hit the afterburners at the 150-metre mark [three-quarters of a furlong] I can't explain the feeling."

Trainer Chris Waller confessed to doubts of his own. He told the Daily Telegraph: "With 400m [two furlongs] to run I thought I was more concerned today than I was first up. I thought she was going to get there quite easy first up with her momentum but it is hard to gauge today when you have a horse free rolling like that.

"She hasn't had a soft sectional but credit to the second horse, Red Excitement. They turned the race on, I guess tried to break us up, so it was very exciting."