Champion Winx and her jockey are fit and ready for the Queen Elizabeth Stakes but her main rival Happy Clapper will have a new rider in the $4 million race.
Kerrin McEvoy will replace Blake Shinn who has won three Group One races on Happy Clapper but has a commitment to the Darren Weir-trained Humidor who he rode to run second to Winx in the Cox Plate.
Happy Clapper won Saturday's Doncaster Mile a few hours after Winx made a cameo appearance at Randwick for a race day gallop with Hugh Bowman aboard. Bowman's autumn carnival has been interrupted twice by illness, firstly because of concussion and again when stood down at Warwick Farm last Wednesday week with a viral condition.
He was originally told to spend two weeks recovering but gained a medical clearance on Friday in time to ride the mare in her workout.
He said he felt much better and more importantly Winx felt as good as she has throughout the autumn during which she won her two starts in the Chipping Norton Stakes and George Ryder Stakes.
