The focus of the racing world will be the Gold Coast this week with the Magic Millions but it will quickly turn to Monday and Tuesday mornings in coming weeks as the stars, including Winx, return at the barrier trials.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Trainers will look for the next generation on the Gold Coast but Chris Waller will begin to roll out his autumn team at Warwick Farm on Tuesday after being left smiling by Winx's work on Saturday morning.
Golden Rose runner-up Omei Rose highlights a set of heats on Tuesday. Her heat includes a gelded Drachenfels, Honesty Prevails, Sezanne and Veladero, while Bjorn Bakers' group 1 winner Music Magnate trials at Randwick on Monday.
Winx is slated to make her first public appearance the following Tuesday at the Rosehill trials.
By all reports the dual Cox Plate winner has bloomed in her time off and will follow a similar path to last year for her autumn campaign with the Queen Elizabeth Stakes replacing the Doncaster as the ultimate target of a four-run campaign.
"She galloped [on Saturday] morning over 1000 metres and pleased her regular track rider Ben Cadden and she feels great and looks very well ahead of her first trial which is planned for January 17 at Rosehill ahead of her first-up run in the Apollo Stakes at Randwick on February 11," Waller said.
Inquiries
Apprentices Lee Mogorrian and Blaike McDougall are the subject of on-going inquiries into their tactics in rides at Canterbury on Friday.
Mogorrian found a lot of trouble in a five-horse field on Montauk, while stewards have also opened an inquiry into the tactics of McDougall on Reckless Russell later in the evening.
Punters flock to track
There was a good crowd as the gates were thrown open at Warwick Farm on Saturday.
There was a real atmosphere around the low-key meeting, which comes on the back of the success of the Canterbury night series in the past couple of months.
For too long the ATC has concentrated on Rosehill and Randwick, but given a chance Canterbury and Warwick Farm have a lot to offer, particular to the local communities.
It is likely Warwick Farm and Canterbury will get an extra Saturday next summer to take the workload away from the major tracks.
The club has locked in Australia Day 2018 as opening day for the Kensington track at Randwick, after its latest reconstruction.
