Another cracking Sydney autumn carnival

The Sydney Autumn Carnival concluded on Saturday, 21 April after a superb six weeks of racing that will surely go down as one of the most successful yet for both Team Godolphin and the Darley stallions.

The queen of the Carnival was undoubtedly Street Cry’s incomparable daughter Winx, who set a new world record of 18 G1 victories when landing the Queen Elizabeth Stakes for the third consecutive year. 

This was her 25th consecutive victory, equalling Black Caviar’s record and the manner of her win was, even by her own stellar standards, more impressive than ever as she came from last to first, right around the outside and still won far more easily than the three-and-three-quarter-length margin would suggest.

She will now enjoy a well-deserved spell before returning in October to attempt another record – this time a fourth Cox Plate at Moonee Valley.

While Winx may be Queen, Alizee is certainly princess as she added a second G1 victory to her record in the Legacy Stakes.

The daughter of Sepoy, also winner of the G1 Flight Stakes last September and the G2 Light Fingers Stakes this February, confirmed her position as the best three-year-old filly in Australia with a withering run down the Randwick straight. 

Earlier in the Carnival, Kementari (by 11-time G1 winner and leading Darley stallion Lonhro) also proved himself as one of the top performers of his generation and one of the best by his sire when beating a high-class field to take the G1 Randwick Guineas.

The striking colt had finished a close second in the Caulfield Guineas last October and returned in the autumn with victory in the G2 Hobartville Stakes. Third to Winx and Happy Clapper in the G1 George Ryder Stakes, there are surely more big performances to come from Kementari, once he returns from a break.

The aforementioned Happy Clapper has chased Winx home on several occasions but he is a very smart performer in his own right and added two further G1 wins to his record during the Carnival, winning the Canterbury Stakes and the coveted Doncaster Mile. He has been a wonderful flagbearer in the southern hemisphere for his sire Teofilo.

Another superb older campaigner is Hartnell (by English Derby winner Authorized), who has flourished for Godolphin since making the move to Australia. He notched his third victory at the highest level with a thrilling win in the seven-furlong C F Orr Stakes – a remarkable achievement for a horse who won the Queen’s Vase over 16 furlongs at Royal Ascot as a three-year-old.

Other Carnival highlights include two-year-old filly Estijaab successfully taking on the colts to win the world’s richest race for juveniles, the G1 Golden Slipper, while Levendi and Ace High provided one of the finishes of the season when finishing first and second respectively in the Australian Derby.