Racing: Eye-opening training feat

Chris Waller said having Winx ready to peak for the second time in a preparation had more to do with the filly than his training methods. Photo / Thinkstock

Rosehill horseman Chris Waller was hailed as a genius but modesty kept the Sydney trainer from accepting the credit for Winx making a one-act affair of the Queensland Oaks at Doomben on Saturday.

Instead, he said Winx should be admired for her resilience as well as her obvious brilliance over a distance.

Winx raced through the Sydney autumn carnival but there was no evidence a long campaign had taken its toll as she strolled clear for a 3-length victory over 2200m that gave Waller his 13th group one success for the season.

The filly is raced by a syndicate headed by Brisbane businessman Peter Tighe and his wife, Patti, who have long wanted to win a group one race in their home town.

"Chris is a genius. To get a filly to win an Oaks on one lead-up run shows how good a trainer he is," Tighe said.

Winx ran second on a wet track in the ATC Australian Oaks in April and she emerged as the horse to beat on Saturday with a last-to-first win in the Sunshine Coast Guineas.

Waller said having Winx ready to peak for the second time in a preparation had more to do with the filly than his training methods.

"I don't look at it that way with good horses. After she ran second in the Australian Oaks, I sat down with my staff and said it was going to be hard to make Brisbane. But we did it and a quality filly like her just needs to be kept fit without being flattened."

- AAP