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Champion mare Winx is set to claim the ultimate accolade that would enshrine her place in racing history as the greatest of the great.
The amazing mare has moved to second place on the recognised worldwide list of all-time money earners and is within reach of claiming the esteemed title of the world’s greatest prizewinner before she retires.
When Winx recorded her 31st successive win and 23rd in a Group One race at Randwick last Saturday her career earnings climbed to $A23,459,674 including bonuses.Arrogate, who raced only 11 times for seven wins, retired in 2017 with earnings of $US17,422,600, the majority coming from his wins in the Dubai World Cup and Pegasus World Cup.
* For the purpose of a uniform world prizemoney list the earnings of all horses are converted to GB pounds at the exchange rate that prevailed at the time they retired.Arrogate’s earnings converted to £GBP13,671,322 while Winx’s Australian earnings after last Saturday’s win in the Chipping Norton Stakes convert to £GBP12,617,644 even though the Australian dollar is at its lowest exchange rate in 10 years.
With Winx likely to have only two more career starts before she is retired she is now in a position to overtake Arrogate and claim the top place on the prizemoney list if she wins those final two races.If Winx wins the George Ryder Stakes on March 23 and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes on April 13 she will add another $A2.9 million to her career earnings for a final tally of $A26,359,674.
On current exchange rates that converts to £GBP14,170,960, some 500,000 pounds in advance of Arrogate.Winx’s two wins in her current campaign have consolidated her second place on the current world prizemoney list ahead of the Japanese champions Gentildonna and Orfevre.
Japan’s greatest mare Gentildonna – who retired as a 5YO at the end of 2014 with a career record of 10 wins and five placings from her 19 starts - sits third with converted earnings of £GBP12,285,608.Orfevre, who retired late in 2013 as a 5YO with a career record of 12 wins and six placings from 21 starts, finished with converted earnings of £GBP12,275,482.
There are only two other Australian-trained horses on the top 40 list.Dual Everest winner Redzel is 11th and is poised to enter the top 10 in his coming autumn campaign while triple Melbourne Cup winner ranks 33rd.
Highland Reel (15th) and Dunaden (40th) are overseas stars who earned prizemoney in Australia.SIgnificantly 21 of the top 40 prizewinners come from Japan, underlining its unchallenged position as the world's richest racing economy.
WORLD TOP 40 PRIZEMONEY EARNERS
- *Source – International Racing Bureau/Thoroughbred Racing Commentary
- Exchange rates applied are issued by the British Horseracing Authority in the first week of January every year.