Global Weekly Review: Winx v Enable: Officially, it's a dead-heat

Isn't it uplifting to see two performances on racecourses, six days apart, in different hemispheres, spark a global debate on where and when the two protagonists should ultimately clash? 

And, of course, who would actually win the great showdown?

Winx v Enable seems the racing promoter's dream. No matter what budgets are involved, no matter how big they need to be, international racing bodies need to club together to make it happen.

Who knows? Without being too dramatic about it, this may be what is needed to ensure future generations become as fascinated in racing as indeed we are.

I was taken with Enable, who capped a magnificent year with a G1 Arc victory to remember. She had to work early to hold her prominent position, yet she could still show a dazzling turn-of-foot in the home straight that destroyed the opposition.

Winx, on the other hand, registered her 21st consecutive win -- and her 25th victory overall -- when landing the G1 Turnbull Stakes, defeating a G1 Doncaster St Leger winner, Ventura Storm, by six and a half lengths. She, too, crushed her rivals, but she was hardly near her very best.

It was the first time Winx had ever run at Flemington, the premier track in Australia and home to the G1 Melbourne Cup. But she clearly relished the experience and had plenty in hand.

We all have our own thoughts on the relative merits of these two outstanding equine females.

As a six-year-old (Southern Hemisphere time), Winx is almost double the age of Enable, who is a Northern Hemisphere three.

One is at the peak of her career, the other, one suspects, is still maturing.

According to Phil Smith, co-Chairman of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings Committee, the official figures indicate that only the age difference currently separates them.

Smith said that if Winx and Enable were to meet in Britain in mid-2018, Winx would be obliged to give 4lb to the younger Enable under the weight-for-age scale.

On up-to-date ratings, Winx sits on 132, while Enable has earned a figure of 128 following her Arc win at Chantilly. 

If, say, they met at weight-for-age in summer in Britain next year, on official ratings, they should finish together. 

A dead-heat: now wouldn't that be the perfect result!