If she races, she wins. The incomparable Winx did she was she always does and finished ahead of the opposition to win her 31st successive race in the Chipping Norton Stakes (1m) at Randwick on Saturday.

Victory in the Group 1 contest saw the seven-year-old mare surpass Hurricane Fly’s record of 22 top-level wins under regular rider Hugh Bowman in front of an adoring Sydney crowd.

This was no cakewalk, however. Blake Shinn set out to make it a proper test on Happy Clapper and quickly established a sizeable lead over his six rivals. Settled in midfield, Bowman sensed danger on the great mare and asked Winx to quicken up before the turn for home.

For a moment it looked like she had a real task on her hooves but once that huge engine clicked into overdrive, the inevitable happened. Winx surged past Happy Clapper inside the final furlong to score readily by a length and three quarters.

Chris Waller sent out the winner and, bar the Patrick Webster-trained runner-up, supplied the rest of the field. In winning her fourth Chipping Norton, Winx matched the record of Tie The Knot, successful every year between 1999 and 2002.

Winx’s lifetime figures are staggering: 35 wins in total, including 31 in succession, 23 Group 1 victories and over £12.9 million in prize-money.

For Happy Clapper, it was the tenth time he had finished behind Winx, on five occasions taking the runner-up berth.