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Champion mare Winx is more settled in Melbourne than Sydney as she aims to win her 21st consecutive race this weekend at Flemington, jockey Hugh Bowman says.
Bowman took the mare for a light run around the Flemington track this morning ahead of Saturday's Turnbull Stakes.
"Winx feels good this morning, she's settled into Melbourne nicely. She seems more relaxed than she was at home at Rosehill," he said.
The Chris Waller-trained mare has never raced at Flemington but has form in Melbourne, having won the 2015 and 2016 Cox Plates.
"In my opinion she actually prefers leading with her Melbourne leg, her near side — she just seems to be more comfortable going through her gears when she's leading with her near side," Bowman said.
"That's something that's been no secret for some time, and you know she seems to enjoy the Melbourne hospitality."
Winx also seems to have scared her rivals away, with Saturday's race to feature a field of just seven runners.
The Makybe Diva Stakes winner, Humidor, will start second favourite.
"I've got a healthy respect for Humidor — I thought his win last start was very impressive, he beat a class field," Bowman said.
"With all due respect to Happy Clapper, I'd say he's probably the toughest opposition that she's met this preparation … so I'm excited about that."
The Turnbull Stakes will likely be Winx's final race before she tries to equal Kingston Town's record of three Cox Plate wins.
A crowd of 25,000 is expected at Flemington on Saturday.
Topics: horse-racing, sport, flemington-3031, melbourne-3000, vic
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