The 2017 Melbourne Cup field will be announced on Victoria Derby Day and following his incredible run behind Winx in the Ladbrokes Cox Plate there is plenty of hype around Darren Weir-trained Humidor.
Will Humidor go one better in the Melbourne Cup and record a famous win?
We analysed the horses that have finished behind Winx in big races during her incredible winning streak and tracked how they fared in their next race starts!
2015 Cox Plate
Winx really stamped herself as a superstar with her victory in the 2015 Cox Plate and the form coming out of that race proved to be extremely strong.
Criterion finished second behind Winx and he went on to finish third behind Prince Of Penzance and Max Dynamite in the Melbourne Cup, while Highland Reel went on to win the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase on International Race Day.
2016 Chipping Norton
Winx claimed her fourth Group 1 victory in the 2016 Chipping Norton Stakes and this proved to be another very strong form race going forward.
Preferment was sent to Melbourne following his fourth place finish in the Chipping Norton Stakes and won the Australian Cup before he returned to Sydney to take out The BMW.
Third placegetter Hauraki went on to finish second in the Ranvet Stakes, second in the Hollindale Stakes and second in the Doomben Cup!
2016 Doncaster Mile
Winx beat Happy Clapper and Azkadellia in a thrilling edition of the Doncaster Mile and that form was franked a weekend later!
Azkadellia claimed her maiden Group 1 victory in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes before Happy Clapper finished a gallant third behind Lucia Valentina and The United States in the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
2016 Warwick Stakes
Winx started her 2016 Spring Racing Carnival campaign with a dominant victory over Hartnell in the Warwick Stakes and didn’t Hartnell go on with the job after that.
Hartnell won the Chelmsford Stakes by seven lengths and the Hill Stakes by five lengths before he cruised to another Group 1 victory in the Turnbull Stakes.
That led to him starting close to Winx in the market for the 2016 Cox Plate and we all saw how that finished…
2016 George Main Stakes
Hauraki produced one of the best performances of his career to give Winx something of a race in the George Main Stakes, but he still went into the Epsom Handicap as an $8 chance.
Punters should have followed the Winx form as he absolutely stormed home in the concluding stages to record a maiden victory at Group 1 level.
2016 Cox Plate
Winx absolutely donkey-licked her rivals in the 2016 Cox Plate, but horses that she beat by more than ten lengths were still able to come out and win their next race starts.
Hartnell carried the top weight to a gallant third in the Melbourne Cup before fifth placegetter Awesome Rock claimed an upset victory in the Emirates Stakes.
2017 Queen Elizabeth Stakes
The 2017 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival was tarnished by wet tracks and the form was fairly inconsistent, but the Queen Elizabeth Stakes ended up being an outstanding form race.
Winx beat Sense Of Occasion by over 10 lengths in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, but he was still able to win the Doomben Cup during the Brisbane Winter Racing Carnival and runner-up Hartnell started his Spring Racing Carnival campaign with a big win in the P.B. Lawrence Stakes.
2017 Chelmsford Stakes
This was one of the rare instances when the form behind Winx didn’t stack up going forward.
Red Excitement gave Winx a genuine scare in the Chelmsford Stakes, but he wasn’t able to repeat those heroics in the George Main Stakes or the Epsom Handicap.
2017 George Main Stakes
For the second year in a row, the horse that finished second behind Winx in the George Main Stakes was able to come out a fortnight later and win the Epsom Handicap.
Happy Clapper was excellent behind Winx in the George Main Stakes and he was able to replicate that effort to claim a much deserved maiden Group 1 victory!
2017 Turnbull Stakes
Humidor himself was given windburn by Winx in the Turnbull Stakes and we saw how much benefit that he took from that experience.
Can Humidor go two better than Criterion and Hartnell and give the Winx form a Melbourne Cup winner? I wouldn’t be betting against him!