Winx made my life easier, says voice of Sydney racecalling

Darren Flindell is the voice of Sydney racing. He has had an extra week to prepare for the Golden Slipper Day. His job is high pressure, but he has learned to cope with the level of expectation and scrutiny. Winx's wins helped him deal with his nerves. He used to call the Warwick Stakes when she blew the start. The result included his famous line: "Winx is down the outside — it's going to get desperate!".

Flindell will be calling his seventh Golden Slipper on Saturday. He was Hong Kong's leading caller for 16 years before he took up the commentary role with Sky Racing. Flindel arrived in Sydney five days before the Golden slipper. His debut year was stressful, but he was happy with his call of Vancouver's GoldenSlipper and that was the main objective. He is renowned for his accuracy of his calls and his "Darrenisms" - his trademark quips. In the latter stages of Winx's career, he adopted a royal theme when calling the great mare's wins.

Winx made his life easier, says Sydney racecalling's voice of Sydney. Flindell called Winx's 2018 Queen Elizabeth Stakes as the mare's "Silver Jubilee moment". He also called her 2019 Apollo Stake win as "hughty and imperious". Flindle will spend Friday calling the Randwick barrier trials and memorising the colours of each runner at Rosehill Gardens program.

Flindell will call nine races on Slipper Day, including five at Group 1 level. He is looking forward to the return of Addeybb and Verry Elleegant in the Ranvet Stakes. John Sargent's Four Moves Ahead is expected to win the Golden Slippers.