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Hugh Bowman's thoughts with mates in Dunedoo as Winx makes in 14 in a row

Chris Roots

Hugh Bowman took care of business on Winx in Monday's Apollo Stakes at Randwick as firefighters, including his dad Jim, protected his Dunedoo property from raging  bushfires.

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Winx wins 14th straight at Randwick

The mare has now matched Pharlap's best winning streak after her win in the Apollo Stakes.

The flames encroached onto Bowman's property and were at the boundaries of his mum and dad's, and the champion jockey's thoughts were with those in his home town –including a close friend who lost his house.

"We must look at it in real terms, there's no one injured, there's no human casualties, and that's above all else what's most important," Bowman said.  "But it's going to take a long time for everyone to ... the pain hasn't started yet. My thoughts are with them. Dad and all the boys I have grown up with have been pretty busy [fighting the fires] and I haven't been able to talk to them today. Hopefully they can sit down with beer and watch a replay when it all settles."  

That replay will make good watching, as Winx again displayed her superiority with a commanding victory. This time it was  by 2 lengths from the next best horse in the Australia, Hartnell, with Endless Drama another four lengths away in third.

Winx's popularity continues to grow as the Monday crowd swelled to more than 6000 as she stepped on to track. "It was pretty humbling to say the least," trainer Chris Waller said.

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Winx was wasn't the best away from the gate but travelled well in  midfield. When Bowman asked her to go into the race, there was a moment of hesitation before she strolled up in the middle of the track at the top of the straight. She shook off the leaders and from there she was in a class  of her own. It was another thoroughly dominant performance from the world's best horse on turf.  

The relief for Waller was palpable, as Winx brought up 14 consecutive wins, matching the best winning streak of Phar Lap.

"You don't just come here expecting to win,"  trainer Chris Waller said. "It's not that easy. We're now at the stage where you are hoping she has a trouble-free run more than hoping she's good enough. It's going to take a champion to beat her or for her to fail and we're just hoping those two things stay away. I know where she is now and we'll see her to continue to improve through the autumn."

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