Winx's mum to watch on from Japan as the great mare goes around

Winx's mum, Vegas Showgirl, will be resting in a paddock in Japan when the Cox Plate is run and won on Saturday.

There is a chance she will know the race is being run, however.

Segenhoe Stud manager Peter O'Brien suggested to Fairfax Media he might, for sentimental reasons, watch the race on his phone alongside the striking mare when he visits her this week as plans for her return to Australia are finalised.

Right now Vegas Showgirl has other things on her mind as she is pregnant, in foal by a tick more than 30 days to the leading Japanese sire and former champion racehorse Deep Impact, which stands at stud for Yen $40,000 ($AU 500,000).

She has been in the country since July after travelling to the famous Paca Paca farm in Japan, a property run by vet Dr Harry Sweeney and reportedly named after the onomatopoeic sound a horse makes when trotting.

The plan is to have her back in the country by the end of November, returning to Segenhoe Stud in the Hunter Valley where she is based, for good.

This short sojourn overseas came about because she wasn't pregnant last season and Deep Impact, who won't be around forever, was available and ready so her owner John Camilleri decided to strike while the iron was hot.

The trip has gone well according to O'Brien, who admits to having his heart in his hands when the mare is sent far away.

"You miss having her around," O'Brien said.

"She is a beautiful mare with a great nature. It's like having your children go overseas. You wish them luck and hope they return safely."

As a racehorse, Vegas Showgirl was no slouch, winning seven of her 35 starts under the care of legendary trainer Graeme Rogerson, her last win in 2007 coming on the Sunshine Coast, coincidentally the same place Winx began her remarkable undefeated run in May 2015.

Rogerson, who is still breeding and training horses in Hamilton New Zealand, described Vegas Showgirl as "a grouse mare".

Brilliant on heavy tracks, she won three and ran second once in her four starts in such conditions and she also ran fourth in a group 1 with Rogerson owning her as well as training her.

Rogerson had owned Winx's grandmother Vegas Magic, buying her in Melbourne because he liked her dad Voodoo Rhythm, eventually matching her at stud with the moderately performed Al Akbar after the original plan to match her with 1998 Cox Plate runner Batavian was shelved when Batavian died.

Vegas Showgirl was the result of that pairing and she raced from 2004 to 2008.

Eventually Rogerson sold Vegas Showgirl at the Magic Millions Broodmare sales in 2008 for $455,000, the late bid from Colm Santry Bloodstock on behalf of Camilleri's Fairway Thoroughbreds pipping, as Rogerson tells it, Gerry Harvey's attempt to obtain the attractive mare for $450,000, thus sending her Camilleri's way.

Vegas Showgirl was then sent to star sire Street Cry and Winx was born in September 2011 then sold at the 2013 Magic Millions sale for $230,000.

Rogerson has watched her progeny from afar, enjoying watching the Winx story unfold rather than being concerned about not hanging on to Vegas Showgirl.

"I sell horses," Rogerson said.

With every Winx win, Vegas Showgirl's fame has grown with O'Brien saying he spoke to the farrier at Paca Paca recently who told him everyone in racing in Japan gathered around a television now whenever Winx ran.

"In 30 odd years I have never seen an animal have such a worldwide impact," O'Brien said.

On Saturday as Winx heads to Moonee Valley to create history in her fourth Cox Plate, her mum will be relaxing in Japan, her name as famous among breeders as the great mare.

"All credit goes to John Camilleri because he thinks globally," O'Brien said.

But O'Brien's focus will be narrowed as the race draws near, Vegas Showgirl being the main thing on his mind.

"I will have the race on my phone and will go and watch it with her," O'Brien said.

Article courtesy of Fairfax Digital and The Brisbane Times