[AusRace] Bill W on Winx

[sean mclaren]

thanks Len for that

On Fri, Mar 1, 2019 at 1:22 AM L.B.Loveday <lloveday at ozemail.com.au> wrote:

> Bill Waterhouse saw Phar Lap race and reckons Winx is the best ever
>
> Ray Thomas, Racing editor, The Daily Telegraph
>
> February 28, 2019 7:00pm
>
> Subscriber only
>
> One of the last living links to Phar Lap has been moved to rate wonder
> mare Winx as a better racehorse than the legend of Australian racing.
>
> Bill Waterhouse, once the world’s biggest bookmaker, is 97 but his memory
> of Phar Lap hasn’t faded with the passing of time.
>
> But as Winx is being readied for her attempt at a 31st consecutive win in
> the Group 1 $600,000 Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) at Royal Randwick,
> Waterhouse said the mighty mare deserves to be recognised as the greatest
> of all time.
>
> Comparing racehorses from different eras — particularly two that are
> almost 90 years apart — is certain to create robust debate.
>
>
>
> Winx will chase a world record 23rd Group 1 win on Saturday at Royal
> Randwick. Picture: Getty Images
>
> But Waterhouse is in a better position than most to make the comparison as
> he can still vividly recall watching Phar Lap dominate the 1930 Randwick
> autumn carnival with runaway wins in the AJC St Leger, Cumberland Stakes
> and AJC Plate.
>
> “As a boy, I saw Phar Lap race at Randwick, winning three times over the
> seven days of the AJC Carnival,’’ Waterhouse said.
>
> “He created a huge impression on me. I ‘knew’ he was the greatest horse to
> ever race. Young eyes allow a champion to make an enormous impact.
>
> “Then and thereafter, everyone recognised Phar Lap as an absolute ‘wonder
> horse’.
>
> “I remember Dad’s (C.O.H. Waterhouse, a St Leger bookmaker) oft-repeated,
> sage advice to me, prompted by Phar Lap: ‘Never bet against a champion’.’’
>
>
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>
> Waterhouse has always rated Phar Lap as the greatest horse he has seen and
> unbeaten sprinter Black Caviar as the fastest but he now believes Winx has
> eclipsed both champions.
>
> “I have to acknowledge, Winx is, I think, superior to Phar Lap,’’
> Waterhouse said.
>
> “I think she the best racehorse I ever seen in my 97 years.
>
> “Modern horses are better reared, better fed and, maybe, better trained
> today. Why wouldn’t they be better?
>
> “With 30 straight wins, Winx has screamed her domination of her generation.
>
> “Moreover, I’m told, she may have the ‘quickest’ stride ever recorded. She
> is the best ever!’’
>
> But Waterhouse feels Winx may not be remembered as reverentially as Phar
> Lap.
>
> “I am not sure history will be as kind to Winx as me,’’ he said.
>
> “In contrast, the memory of Phar Lap will be that of a great horse of
> taking on all distances, all weights, undaunted by the fear of defeat.
>
> “Phar Lap won the 1930 Cox Plate and then won at each of the four days of
> the VRC Spring Carnival (1600m to 3200m).
>
> “He won, over his lifetime, from 1000m to 3600m. He raced in the Melbourne
> Cup with 68kg on a 42.5kg limit.
>
> “He won the world’s richest race lame, wearing bar plates. A brave warrior.
>
> “By contrast I fear Winx will, in time to come, be wrongly tainted with
> the tag a ‘cotton wool’ champion. But you can’t blame the Winx connections.
> Times are different.’’
>
> Waterhouse said prizemoney for weight-for-age races are “worth so much
> more today compared with yesteryear” so there is no need for Winx to be
> tested in handicaps.
>
> “Phar Lap’s 1931 Cox Plate was worth only £400 as against his 1930
> Melbourne Cup of £9,229,’’ Waterhouse said.
>
> Waterhouse is adamant Winx could race on for another year and still
> dominate Australian racing.
>
> “Phar Lap didn’t retire,’’ he said, recalling how the mighty racehorse
> died from a mystery ailment when still in his prime, less than three weeks
> after beating America’s best horses in the 1932 Agua Caliente Handicap.
>
> “If I owned Winx, she would stay racing, forget about protecting her
> unbeaten record and show her greatness by ‘stepping outside the crease’
> like Phar Lap.’’
>
>
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