Winx goes to Hollywood: Australia’s favourite racehorse to star in feature film
Feted by many as the world’s greatest racehorse, champion mare Winx is about to become a star of the big screen as well as the racetrack.
*This picture has been selected as one of the Best of the Year Sports images for 2019* Australian racehorse Winx is seen is seen in the stables during an exhibition gallop at Randwick racecourse in Sydney, Saturday, February 9, 2019. (AAP Image/Jeremy Piper) NO ARCHIVING
A feature film celebrating her record 33 straight wins, titled a A Horse Named Winx, will be released nationally in September.
Written and narrated by journalist Andrew Rule and directed by Janine Hosking, the film will also delve into the challenges of managing the Winx legend and health scares along the way.
“I only now feel like I am ready to tell the story of what we went through,” said trainer Chris Waller, who orchestrated Winx’s incredible run of wins along with regular jockey Hugh Bowman.
As a yearling, Winx sold for $230,000 and went on to a world record 25 Group One wins, with total prize money exceeding $26 million.
She became known as the “people’s horse”, and her final victory at the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2019 attracted a worldwide television audience of millions.
In 2020, Winx’s first foal was stillborn, but earlier in 2024 her second, by stallion Pierro, fetched a world record price of $10 million at Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
Winx retired with a record 37 wins, the same as Phar Lap almost a century ago.
The film has been funded by Screen Australia with Screen NSW.
