Cassidy proud of role in Winx’s win streak

Larry Cassidy rode Winx only once but the veteran jockey has fond memories of the champion mare.

Brisbane jockey Larry Cassidy has already had one win for Saturday as he will now be able to see the superstar mare Winx run her last race.

At one stage it looked as though jockeys would miss seeing Winx’s race as Eagle Farm has 10 races and times were to be compressed.

But the Brisbane Racing Club has been able to have its seventh race at 2.37pm before a 41-minutes break to the eighth at 3.22pm.

Winx will run at 3.05pm giving jockeys and trainers plenty of time in Brisbane to see the race.

Cassidy has ridden 43 Group One winners and is well on his way to reaching 3000 overall but he will forever be remembered for one ride.

It was on May 16, 2015 when he rode Winx to win the Listed Sunshine Coast Guineas.

The win rates along side Rough Habit’s 1992 Stradbroke victory as the most “unbelievable” seen in the state.

None the less the racing media were bemused after the Guineas win when Cassidy told them Winx was possibly the best horse he had ridden.

“I wasn’t joking as in 35 years of riding I haven’t ridden a horse that can accelerate like Winx can,” he said.

“Sure I’ve ridden some outstanding horses, but what she did that day was unbelievable.

“I always ring my wife Michelle when I am leaving the races. That day she was excited about Winx’s win and I told her Winx was possibility the best horse I had ridden,” Cassidy recalled.

“I could picture her face and she started to rattle off other horses I had ridden like Sunline, Secret Savings, Golden Sword, Arena, etc.”

Two weeks later Winx’s regular rider Hugh Bowman was available for the Queensland Oaks ride and spoke with Cassidy.

“He agreed with me the Guineas win was good and I told him I thought she could be the best horse I had ridden. He looked at me strangely and also listed my good horses.

“But I suppose in the end I was proved right and I have loved watching her career.”

Cassidy remembers the Winx ride as though it was yesterday.

“It really is the ride that keeps on giving. I mean to have ridden her and to be part of racing folklore is something which is just incredible,” he said.

“I knew she had something special but it was really a pipe dream to think she could go on to be the best in the world.”

Like millions of others, in 31 consecutive wins after the Guineas, Cassidy has watched Winx continue to go to new heights and he will miss her.

“But maybe we will just have to find another Winx,” he said.