Winx holding off Humidor in the Cox Plate (Image: Racing Photos)
Winx was not the top-rated horse out of the 2017 Ladbrokes Cox Plate - according to Racing Victoria chief handicapper Greg Carpenter.
That anomaly goes some way to indicating the intricacies of ratings and how they are undertaken, but Carpenter revealed Humidor - by measure of carrying 2kg more than Winx, and his beaten margin officially only being a long neck - was in fact rated higher than the champion mare on his performance in the weight-for-age feature.
"Everyone continues to be focused and intrigued by the ratings," Carpenter said on Monday morning.
"To explain it, Humidor gave Winx 2kg on Saturday, and the margin was only half a length [officially a 'long neck'], which - at 2000m - is one rating point.
"So really, Humidor comes out of this Cox Plate with a higher rating on the day than Winx did.
"For me, he ran 122 when he won the Makybe Diva. He's back to that sort of form.
"So if he's run to 122, she had 2kg less - I think you can call the margin two lengths in the end, because Hughie [Bowman] was soft on her - so she's mathematically run to 120, so it hasn't surpassed her previous best of 132."
Carpenter is firm in his view that Winx is the world's best racehorse despite her benchmark still sitting second to Arrogate, and as he suggested it was a virtual two-length win, that equated to a softer victory than what was witnessed visually.
"She is - for me - still the best horse in the world. Whether she runs at Flemington on the final day or has a break for 2018, I think we were all privileged to be there on Saturday and see such a champion racehorse strut her stuff again," he said.
"It was good that Humidor gave her a real contest. I think at the 600m, I thought she was going to win by six, and I thought at the 150-metre mark, Humidor was going to get past her.
"But again, she found plenty in the last 100m and she was a pretty soft winner."
WATCH: Winx's win
And in regards to the year-old debate about who is better, Winx or Arrogate, Carpenter said that - officially - the ratings will remain as is unless a drastic decision is made in regards to the American-trained colt's benchmark.
"Arrogate's established at 134 currently from the Dubai World Cup victory," Carpenter said.
"She's 132 earlier in the year from the Chipping Norton, winning that by a big margin. In the Turnbull, she's run - for me - a near-132 mark, probably 130.
"It's going to be difficult to get her beyond that mark.
"We know Arrogate has been beaten subsequently twice now - Breeders' Cup coming up this weekend at Del Mar.
"If he doesn't win again, perhaps that might prompt some of my international handicapping colleagues at the conference in Hong Kong in December to look back to the Dubai World Cup and see whether or not we're still confident he ran to his previous mark of 134.
"I think it's going to be difficult to get Winx herself up beyond 132, particularly after the Cox Plate result on Saturday."
Carpenter also revealed the Emirates Melbourne Cup second acceptances on Monday - with Bonneval, Sir Isaac Newton, Assign and Chocante the only four horses in the top 28 on the order of entry not to be paid up for.
As he said the 'attrition rate hasn't revealed itself at the moment', with Abbey Marie (25th) and Thomas Hobson (26th) outside the magic top 24 ahead of relevant races the Group 3 Bendigo Cup on Wednesday and the ballot-exempt Group 3 Lexus Stakes on Saturday.