Former jockey Malcolm Johnston is not sad Winx has reached Kingston Town's record of three Cox Plates.

She deserves it, says the man who rode "The King" to the first of his Cox Plate victories.

"She's as good as I've seen," Johnston said.

"She deserves it.

"She hasn't beaten his record, and equalling it I think is a great thing. It's a great thing for racing."

Like the rest of the 32,600-strong crowd, Johnston was a bit worried when Humidor chased Winx down the straight, coming to within a long neck.

For a moment, Johnston thought jockey Hugh Bowman may have saluted too early.

"He's given us all a heart attack.

"I'm thinking 'Hughie, just hit her'.

"Humidor has run out of his skin, absolutely.

"But this mare, she's a champ, an absolute champ."

Trained by the late TJ Smith, Kingston Town was ridden by a different jockey for each of his three Cox Plate wins: Johnston (1980), Ron Quinton (1981) and Peter Cook (1982).