By Daithi Harvey
Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) mania looks set to resume with the news that the Chris Waller-trained mare is scheduled to take in a barrier trial at Warwick Farm on Jan. 22. With her seasonal debut pencilled in for the G2 Apollo S. at Randwick on Feb. 17, Waller intends to give the three-time G1 Cox Plate heroine a second trial before resuming competitive action. Connections are hoping Winx will make at least three starts in the Sydney autumn carnival, possibly culminating in the G1 George Ryder S. at Rosehill on Mar. 24 before anything further is decided.
“If she wins the [G1] George Ryder [S. on Mar. 24] by three lengths, and the [G1] Queen Elizabeth [S. on Apr. 14] by two lengths, she'll be on the plane,” Waller told RSN 927's Matt Stewart on Saturday morning. “She will go if she's 100%. She had a gallop this morning and I came back [from the Gold Coast] to watch it specifically, so I was pretty happy with the way she worked. She'll have two more gallops and then trial in nine days' time.”
Another top-class filly, She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}), came through a barrier trial in pleasing fashion at Warwick Farm on Monday. Gary Portelli's G1 Golden Slipper and G1 Moir S. heroine was partnered by Ben Melham over 800m and the jockey kept her on a tight rein as she finished second, 1 1/2-lengths off the classy mare Super Too (Aus) (Hinchinbrook {Aus}). Portelli intends to take in another trial in two weeks time before the filly tackles the A$250,000 Inglis Sprint over 1100m at Warwick Farm on Feb. 10.
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