As usual, Winx will run toward history in Turnbull Stakes

This Friday night, champion mare Winx targets the Turnbull Stakes, her final race before attempting a run at historic fourth straight win in the Group 1 Cox Plate on Oct 26. The defending champion in the Turnbull, Winx is also looking to achieve an unprecedented second Turnbull-Cox Plate double. 

In addition, Turnbull Stakes Day counts-down to the Lexus Melbourne Cup Carnival with a range of prep races. The featured Turnbull, a 1¼-mile race for 4-year-olds-and-up, gets underway at Melbourne’s Flemington racecourse at 3 p.m. local time this Saturday (1 a.m. ET).

Shooting for an unprecedented 28th straight victory after triumphing in last month’s George Main Stakes (G1), Winx is a 1/5 red-hot favorite to win before moving on to target an historic fourth Cox Plate. She equaled Kingston Town’s 1980-82 hat trick last year. 

Already one of the few horses to have completed the Turnbull Stakes-Cox Plate double – alongside only Better Loosen Up, The Phantom Chance, Northerly, and Makybe Diva – Winx would also make history yet again by winning both races a second time. 

Trainer Chris Waller is confident.

“[Her jockey] Hugh Bowman and I are both very pleased with the way the preparation has gone, as we head towards the third start of her campaign on Saturday,” he says. “She is in good shape, looks well.’’

Rival trainer Darren Weir is bringing in an unfamiliar opponent to challenge Winx after failing to defeat the mare in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) with Gailo Chop and Humidor. He’s pinning his hopes this time on Kings Will Dream, an early Melbourne Cup favorite who placed third in the Memsie Stakes (G1) on Sept. 1. The 4-year-old colt has 9/1 odds to create an upset.

The Mick Price-trained Grunt will follow Winx on her path to the Cox Plate after running in the Turnbull Stakes. Grunt is also listed as 9/1 after his last start failure in the Underwood Stakes at Caulfield. But Price expects that his runner’s winning experience on the Flemington track – three wins from four starts – will give him an edge.

Like Kings Will Dream, New Zealand-bred Jon Snow is also an entrant in the Melbourne Cup, though expectations for the 5-year-old aren’t quite as high. After winning the Australian Derby (G1) last year, Jon Snow placed third in the Makybe Diva Stakes (G1) in September behind his Turnbull rivals Grunt and Kings Will Dream. The bookies give him a 25/1 chance of surprising Winx and avenging the Makybe Diva Stakes.

TVG will present coverage of the Turnbull Stakes Day races live at Flemington. The race card can also be live-streamed at ADW platforms such as NYRABets, which accepts standard U.S. bet types. Free past performances and expert picks on all races are available at skyracingworld.com.