Intense pressure will be on Hugh Bowman – even more so than Winx – going into the Ladbrokes Cox Plate.
With only eight runners there is every likelihood that the race will develop into a tactical battle between the jockeys.
There is no doubt that Oisin Murphy, Damien Lane, Glyn Schofield and Ryan Moore, in particular, will each be extremely conscious of Winx as she tries to notch her 29th consecutive victory and win her fourth Cox Plate.
There is also no doubt that each of the jockeys, along with the connections of their mounts, will have hatched plans that will involve bringing Winx undone.
As a result Bowman will have to prepared to contend with a number of different scenarios.
At 38 he is certainly among the leading jockeys of the world.
Yet, Bowman did not cover himself in glory when riding Winx in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on October 6.
In fact only the mare’s exceptional ability saved him from considerable embarrassment.
For some inexplicable reason he chose to angle Winx onto the rails at the rear of the field in the first 100m of the Turnbull.
Instead of breezing along one from the rails – the other option – she was boxed away on the fence.
It became painfully obvious a long way from home that Bowman was going to have problems securing a clear passage for Winx and that was the case.
Just when it appeared the task confronting her was becoming impossible Bowman edged the champion through a narrow opening and Winx did the rest.
A blistering finishing burst, in which she ran her fastest 200m ever, enabled her to snatch victory in the last few strides.
However, with the higher calibre of opposition in the Cox Plate a similar error of judgement could well end in tears.
