It wasn't quite the track gallop some had predicted and indeed Winx was forced into a sustained sprint to the line, but victory was never in doubt in the Caulfield Stakes for one of the world's best racehorses.

On the line in the $600,000 Group 1, Winx was two lengths ahead of Black Heart Bart, with double that margin to the third-placed He Or She. It was an easy trifecta to pick just as the tactics of the race were easy to forecast.

It really couldn't be any other way. Black Heart Bart led and Winx sat on his rump. He Or She had the decency to stay out of the picture for much of the race as Winx tracked the spring's most in-form horse. She tracked him, drew level and then after a brief duel, surged clear at the odds of $1.24.

The time for the race tells more than one tale. The 2:03.42 recorded by Winx over the 2000-metre course was slow in terms of the course record of 2:00.38, but there was nothing slow about the way Winx finished off the race.

After an early race stroll, which allowed the stars to find their feet, Black Heart Bart wound it up mid-race and then Winx finished it off.

The great mare ran her final 1000m in 56.83s.

WATCH: Winx's win

It brought up win No. 16, with the past 12 of these coming in a row, and it was also an eighth Group 1 win as her prizemoney was pushed up toward $7.5 million. But her capacity to earn knows no barriers. Victory again in the Cox Plate in two weeks will see her earnings near $10m.

No wonder her trainer Chris Waller gave praise that she was in his yard rather than in someone else's.

"It's a great privilege to train her. She's a dream horse to have anything to do with," Waller said.

As for Black Heart Bart, his trainer Darren Weir kept it simple.

"He just wasn't good enough. She was far too good," Weir said.

Still, when you are on a Cox Plate path, it’s hard to jump off even when victory seems highly improbable.

"We'll keep heading that way and won't be changing much," Weir said.

Craig Williams on third-placed He Or She said the horse felt the pinch when the race got serious on turning for home.

"But he wasn't beaten too far and he didn't give in at any stage," Williams said. Racing.com