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| Sumita Pawar |
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Renowned Hall of Famers Chris Waller and Hugh Bowman, who achieved great success together with the exceptional racehorse Winx, will once again team up at Royal Randwick on Saturday in pursuit of significant career milestones.
Waller, a highly acclaimed trainer, aims to secure his 150th Group One win in his illustrious career. He will be represented by eight runners in the prestigious A$1 million Winx Stakes (1400m), a race named in honor of his former champion. Lindermann, Fangirl, Osipenko, Montefilia, Going Global, Princess Grace, Francesco Guardi, and Hinged are the horses that Waller will be relying on for this momentous occasion.
Bowman, the esteemed jockey, has been booked to ride Lindermann in the Winx Stakes. If successful, it will mark his 100th victory in Australian Group 1 races, a remarkable achievement.
A win with Lindermann would place Waller and Bowman among the elite few in Australian racing history. Only three trainers have prepared 150 or more Group 1 winners: the legendary duo of Bart Cummings and Tommy Smith with 246 victories each, and Gai Waterhouse with 154. Bowman, who currently resides in Hong Kong, has ridden 99 Australian Group 1 winners, including an astonishing 25 victories aboard the incomparable Winx. He has also triumphed in six major races in Hong Kong and Japan.
Though the modern era offers more Group 1 races compared to the dominating period of Cummings, Smith, and Moore, it is essential to recognize the outstanding achievements of Waller and Bowman in this century.
Waller's journey to his first Group 1 victory began in 2008 with Triple Honour's triumph in the Doncaster Handicap. Since then, he has been the nation's leading trainer of big-race winners for 11 consecutive seasons.
Bowman's inaugural major victory came in 2004 when he rode Defier to victory in the Doomben Cup. Within two decades, he has climbed to third place on the all-time rankings of leading Australian Group 1 jockeys.
As Sydney's premier trainer, Waller has trained six previous winners of the Winx Stakes. In preparation for the Randwick event, Lindermann had a warm-up race at Rosehill last Saturday, while Fangirl showcased her abilities with an exhibition gallop at the same meeting. Fangirl seeks to improve on her second-place finish in last year's Winx Stakes, where she was defeated by the retired champion Anamoe.
"It's a good starting point,'' Waller said of Lindermann's comeback run in the Winx Stakes.
"He's in between a handicapper and a weight-for-age horse.''
"Fangirl's had a good couple of years without winning mainly because of Anamoe,'' Waller said.
"But she's a good horse and she likes good tracks which is the key to her this spring.''
The Winx Stakes has attracted a stellar field, consisting of 16 starters, 13 of whom are individual Group 1 winners. Additionally, promising 3YO King Colorado, a Group One winner, has been named as the first emergency for the race.
During his classic season, Osipenko demonstrated immense potential by winning the Hobartville Stakes and the Frank Packer Plate. In the Doncaster, Osipenko finished ahead of both Fangirl and Lindermann, indicating his competitiveness in the upcoming Winx Stakes.
"He's a very similar horse to Lindermann, maybe a bit sharper,'' Waller said.
"I think Osipenko is more a 1400m-miler while Lindermann will get out to 2000m.''