Nobody expected it to be this close, but Winx has completed her Ladbrokes Cox Plate three-peat on Oct. 28.

Starting a prohibitive 0.18-1 favorite, Winx settled midfield in the 2,040-meter (about 1 1/4-mile) championship at Moonee Valley in Melbourne, and got to the front easily enough with about a quarter-mile to run.

But she then had an unexpected challenge from Group 1 winner Humidor, who had been more than seven lengths behind her in the Group 1 Seppelt Turnbull Stakes three weeks ago.

Jockey Hugh Bowman needed to give Winx more encouragement than usual, but the Street Cry mare won by a comfortable-enough long neck at the finish in a course-record time of 2:02.94.

“It wasn’t an easy victory, she had to be good to fight Humidor,” Winx’s trainer, Chris Waller, said after the race.

“But you never expect these races to be easy. In fact, you never expect to win when you come to these races.”

The victory extended Winx’s winning streak to 22 in a row, and equaled sprint queen Black Caviar’s Australian record of 15 group 1 wins. She took her earnings past $15.5 million Australian (about $11.9 million), which is more than three-time Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva’s Australian prize-money record of $14.5 million Australian.

She became the second horse to win the Cox Plate, Australia’s most important middle-distance race, on three occasions, following Kingston Town (1980-’82).

Waller has expressed a strong interest in bringing Winx to Europe in 2018, with venues such as Royal Ascot and York among the possibilities, but he said after Saturday’s race that no decision is expected to be made until early next year.

He said Winx would only travel if she was at her peak.

Humidor, fifth in the Group 1 BMW Caulfield Cup last week, will now head for the two-mile, Grade 1 Emirates Melbourne Cup on Nov. 7.