Blockbuster Clash in NZB Caulfield WFA Championship Finale
6 October 2016
Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars) is already guaranteed the New Zealand Bloodstock Caulfield WFA Championship title, but he faces his toughest test yet in the small field for Saturday’s final leg of the Series, the A$600,000 Group 1 Ladbrokes Caulfield Stakes (2000m).
As the winner of the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) and Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m), Black Heart Bart has amassed an unassailable 20 points in this year’s Series. His nearest challengers are Jacquinot Bay (Galileo), who has finished in the first four in two of the legs and has 12 points, and Miss Rose De Lago (Encosta De Lago), who picked up 10 points for her win in the Group 2 PB Lawrence Stakes (1400m) in August.
Neither of those horses is running on Saturday, so the 10 points available to the Caulfield Stakes winner will not be enough for Black Heart Bart to be equalled or overhauled.
But Saturday’s race does feature a hugely significant newcomer to the Series, namely the sensational mare Winx (Street Cry). The winner of her last 11 races in a row including seven at Group 1 level, Winx was a near-unanimous winner of Australia’s Horse of the Year for the 2015-16 season.
The Chris Waller-trained wonder-mare has already scored impressive victories this season in the Group 2 Warwick Stakes (1400m) and Group 1 George Main Stakes (1600m) as she builds towards a possible defence of her title in the Group 1 WS Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley later this month.
The head-to-head clash between Winx and Black Heart Bart has scared almost everyone else away, with just three horses lining up for the weight-for-age feature.
The other runner is He Or She (Kendel Star), who finished second in the Underwood and seventh in the Memsie. He sits in fourth place on the Series leaderboard with 9 points.
To view the NZB Spring WFA Championship points table please click here.
| # | Horse | Draw | Comments | Trainer | Jockey |
| 1 | Black Heart Bart | 1 | The dominant force of the Melbourne spring so far, Black Heart Bart (Blackfriars) has recorded Group 1 victories in the Memsie Stakes (1400m) and Underwood Stakes (1800m), both at this track. He also ran second to his stablemate Palentino in the Group 1 Makybe Diva Stakes (1600m). | Darren Weir | Brad Rawiller |
| 2 | He Or She | 2 | He Or She (Kendel Star) has picked up 9 points so far in the NZB Spring WFA Championship, finishing seventh in the Memsie Stakes and second in the Underwood. In between those runs he was third in the Makybe Diva Stakes. The biggest win of his career to date came in the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) at Flemington in March. | David and Ben Hayes and Tom Dabernig | Craig Williams |
| 3 | Winx | 3 | By Street Cry out of the stakes-winning mare Vegas Showgirl (NZ), the Chris Waller-trained Winx has become the pin-up girl of Australian racing. She has won all of her last 11 races in a row including the Group 1 Queensland Oaks, Epsom Handicap, Cox Plate, Chipping Norton Stakes, George Ryder Stakes, Doncaster Mile and George Main Stakes. She was voted Australia's Horse of the Year for 2015-16. | Chris Waller | Hugh Bowman |