Hugh Bowman had never experienced people running to the fence to see him going out on a horse the way they did for Winx before the Apollo Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
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After the race they were running to the bookmakers to collect, even though she started $1.60 after Winx scored by a length from Solicit and Hauraki.
"I have never seen that before, at least not for a horse I was on," Bowman said of the pre-race action. "She has just captured the public's attention. She is a good mare with a serious engine, but I have been around long enough not to count my chickens before they hatch. But I'm looking forward to next time."
That will be in the Chipping Norton Stakes in a fortnight, again at Randwick, and the real effect of Winx could be seen on the crowd that day.
Bowman better get used to it because Winx confirmed her status as the best horse in Australia with what in the end was a soft win.
She had to do her work on the track and Solicit gave her something to chase well into the straight, but Bowman just let his mare find her feet and reeled in the leader before going away on the line.
"She did a good job she had a bit of ground to make up, but once I put her into gear it was a case of help her along the way," Bowman said.
The help didn't require the whip and the clock told its story, stopped at 1:22.03 for 1400m.
Champion trainer Chris Waller said Bowman had not had a horse like Winx before. He said a star came along only rarely.
"I'm a racing fanatic and [the fact people are calling her a champion] will get me more emotional than the win today," Waller said.
"To be talked about and included with horses we always remember is pretty special to me.
"She's not there yet [as a champion]. She's got to win two Cox Plates, she has got to come for another prep or two.
"I know what is going on, I can see she has the potential to be a horse that everyone is talking about in that company. And talking about the Friday before the races and after the races – that is what racing needs. She is going to become important."
Waller said he had been "second guessing and looking at her and thinking is she too big" but he once again got it right as Winx made it her sixth win on end, including a Epsom Handicap and Cox Plate. The trainer did have a warning: "She will improve a lot."
Kerrin McEvoy rated Solicit perfectly in front, but could not answer the challenge when Winx eased alongside inside the 200m mark.
"It was a super effort. She's run right up to her mark and there's still improvement to come into her prep," McEvoy said.
"I knew he [Bowman] was coming. I was angling off the fence and he had the run, but it's where I wanted to be. [Winx] has come back great and my mare has run super."
Third placegetter Hauraki had tracked Winx in the run but when she went the stayer could not match her turn of foot.
"He went with her for a couple of strides, but he is a different sort of horse," jockey Sam Clipperton said. "He has gone great and he is going to get better with more ground."
