By Andrew Webster
As we walk up the tunnel underneath the main grandstand at Randwick towards the light, towards the heaving winner's enclosure where Winx will be waiting, Chris Waller starts to shake his head.
His mare-of-the-moment has just won the $3 million Doncaster Mile to extend her unbeaten run to nine – but halfway through the race the trainer thought she was no chance.
"It hasn't really sunk in," Waller says. "At the half mile, I thought she was gone. I didn't think she could win. I thought, 'Today's the day'."
Today was not the day … but holy hell it almost was.
Wonder horse: Winx tears away to win the Doncaster Mile in April.Credit: bradleyphotos.com.au
Sent out as the $1.80 favourite, jockey Hugh Bowman showed the supreme confidence he's riding with at the moment when he settled near the tail of the field.
By the home turn, he was left with no alternative but to burst through the middle of the pack. Bowman went to shift wide, couldn't find a run, and then shifted back in and found a crack in the wall.
Now, the dancefloor belonged to him and Winx. Happy Clapper challenged but Winx looked at him, flicked her hair and bounded away to win by two lengths.
"Halfway through the race, she didn't feel right," Bowman said. "It's the first time when she hasn't been as comfortable as she normally is."
Earlier in the day, Bowman had limped into the stewards' room with his right boot missing.
Chief steward Ray Murrihy had hauled in every jockey and read the riot act about the controversial whip rules that were very much the early talk of the track at Royal Randwick on day one of The Championships.
Bowman's foot had been crunched in the barrier when his mount, Pera Pera, jumped awkwardly in the Country Championships Final.
The Doncaster was still three hours away. Not ideal.
"We know you got jammed in the gates there," Murrihy said. "Do you want to see the doctor?"
"No, I'm right," Bowman assured.
Of course, he would've ridden Winx without a right foot let alone a badly injured one.
The ATC handed out Winx hats to racegoers as they entered the course, but how many attend the big races these days to watch the superstars is anyone's guess.
Few racecourses can draw wet weather like Royal Randwick on a big race day, but the first day of The Championships brought clear skies and sweat moustaches for those who couldn't find their way into an air-conditioned marquee.
The crowd of 22,615 was disappointing, especially with a champion-in-waiting like Waller's mare in attendance. Hopefully, more will come out to watch her in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes next Saturday.
As it turned out, the sentimental story of the day came from a $10,000 filly, not a superstar mare.
Yankee Rose stormed down the middle of the track to win the $1 million Sires Produce (1400m), having finished second to Capitalist in the Golden Slipper a fortnight ago.
The tiny two-year-old had been dominant but the moment undoubtedly belonged to trainer David Vandyke.
In an interview with Fairfax Media a week ago, Vandyke laid bare, in graphic detail, his life story; from heroin addict to suicide attempts to reborn horse trainer.
He thought he should've won the Slipper – but was grateful he didn't.
"For my personal growth, to become a better person, I was better off running second – as a sober and clean man," he said.
Since the story appeared, Vandyke has been contacted by family and friends he hadn't spoken to for decades, as well as strangers inspired to change just as he has.
Standing right there, in the mounting yard, the gift of recovery could not have been clearer.
Ten years ago, Vandyke was pulled from a car in the middle of a forest as he attempted suicide.
Fast forward to 3.20pm on Saturday and he was being embraced by jockey Zac Purton before a legion of photographers clicking away like he was Jennifer Hawkins … who was standing on the other side of the winner's enclosure in near anonymity.
Vandyke didn't have to say much to explain what happened. His eyes, almost opaque because of the emotion, told it all. "But by the grace of my higher power I just feel very blessed," he said.
He can sleep well. So can Waller.