The first Group 1 of the season was run on Saturday afternoon

There are some years that the Winx Stakes is a low-key start to the Group 1 racing. That was not the case this year with a classy field lining up at Randwick on Saturday afternoon. The 12 runners had 15 Group 1 wins combined coming in. 

It really should not be any surprise that the first Group 1 of the year went to Chris Waller. He had half of the field and has been the dominant force for long enough. Less of a known force as a trainer is Andrew Dale who was on target with four winners on Saturday.  

First Group 1 goes to Chris Waller 

The Winx Stakes looked a strong and competitive Group 1 on paper and it proved to be so on the track. Tropical Squall set the early pace from her wide barrier, setting things up for her fellow Yulong Thoroughbreds owned Via Sistina to pounce late.  
 
Zougotcha ran second and Fangirl was a touch disappointing, only able to plug on at one speed down the outside for third. It was a Chris Waller trifecta with an $11 roughie coming out on top.  
 
Via Sistina took her Australian form to two wins and a second in three starts, all in Group 1 races. She was a Group 1 winner in Ireland and placed in Group 1s in England and France so she has proved to be a remarkable mare. That’s seven wins in 16 career starts for the seven-year-old. 

Jason Collett with a Randwick treble 

The cream certainly rose to the top in terms of the hoops at Randwick on Saturday. Two of the 10 races on the afternoon saw Nash Rawiller salute, two for James McDonald but it was Jason Collett who outdid them with three. 
 
Atmospheric Rock was a roughie start to the day for Collett, saluting at $11 in race three. It was a wait until the final two races of the day for Collett to complete his treble. Kimochi won the Group 3 Toy Show Quality at $6 before World Alliance rounded out the day in the lucky last at $6.60.  

Andrew Dale with a four-timer 

It was an excellent Saturday for trainer Andrew Dale. His stable has been steadily improving in terms of quality over the last few years, winning the Wangaratta Turf Club’s Trainers Premiership last season. 
 
Dale made a fine start to defending that title with three of his four winners coming at the northern Victoria track. Bellman, Copperfield and Brenlyn’s Trooper all wore Dale’s own colours to victory in three straight races at the course. The fourth winner came courtesy of Deploy And Destroy at Berrigan. 
 
There are no metro wins yet on Dale’s record but he has done well with his country wins. He is closing in on 250 for his career with a place strike rate of an excellent 32%.  

Asfoora is only 4th at York 

There was disappointment for Henry Dwyer as his star mare Asfoora could only finish fourth in the Nunthorpe at York. It was her fourth start of the prep in England and perhaps that just found her out a little bit, keeping strong company in each race.  
 
Dwyer has now taken the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar in California off the table as an option for later in the year. She might not be coming home just yet, however, with a trip to Ireland and the Flying Five at The Curragh under consideration in mid-September. 

The Group 1 action is back and the betting sites are starting to buzz again. The spring carnival is only just around the corner and we have plenty of exciting Saturdays to look forward to over the next few months.