Winx’s little filly could be the most expensive yearling sold anywhere in the world next year.
The owners of all-time great racehorse Winx have made the surprising decision to sell the mare’s first foal at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale on April 7-8.
Breeding experts have estimated Winx’s daughter, who is by champion sire Pierro, could break the Australian yearling record price of $5 million set a decade ago for a half-brother to the mighty Black Caviar that was also sold at the Easter auction.
Winx’s ownership group including Debbie Kepitis and Peter Tighe said they grappled for months whether to retain their filly to race or sell her.
“It was a very hard decision,’’ Mrs Kepitis said.
“The whole ownership group found this a difficult thing to work through but we just feel this is the best way to move forward with this gorgeous little filly.
“It is heartbreaking and my stomach is still in knots – I don’t know how I will cope in April.’’
Most assumed that Winx’s ownership group would retain the mare’s Pierro filly to race but Mr Tighe said the decision to sell gives the “opportunity for someone else to manage the next racing chapter of what has been a great story.’’
“By selling this filly other people can be involved in the Winx phenomenon,’’ he said.
Mr Tighe said the ownership group have had the “highs and lows” with Winx since the mare was retired to stud.
“We had the first foal stillborn, then we have had this filly, so it’s been a rollercoaster with breeding from Winx,’’ he said.
“But it is not as if we can’t breed from her anymore, either. She will be going to Snitzel in the next week or two so that is another chapter.
“Hopefully, we can have a nice colt or filly from Winx next year.’’
The Chris Waller-trained Winx won 37 of 43 starts including 33 races in succession to close out her celebrated race career, earning more than $26.4 million prizemoney.
She won a world record 25 Group 1 races including four Cox Plates, four George Ryder Stakes, four Chipping Norton Stakes, three Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Doncaster Mile and Epsom Handicap.
Winx defeated 78 individual Group 1 winners during her career and earned a peak Timeform rating of 134 which was equal to the likes of Japanese superstar Deep Impact and Europe’s mighty mare Enable, and better than champion mares Makybe Diva, Sunline, Atlantic Jewel, More Joyous, Japan’s Almond Eye and Gentildonna, and America’s Zenyatta.
The Winx filly will be included in the Easter Yearling Sale draft of Coolmore Stud, the farm were the great mare was raised, and is scheduled to go through the Inglis Riverside complex sale-ring at Warwick Farm on Day Two of Easter next year.
Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch was humbled by the decision of Winx’s owners to choose the Easter Yearling Sale to offer their filly.
“This is the rarest of opportunities and the greatest of honours to be afforded the chance to showcase this unique filly to a global audience,’’ Hutch said.
“I have been lucky enough to see the filly on a number of occasions and I think the biggest compliment that I can pay her is that independent of her illustrious mother, she is a special filly in her own right.
“The Inglis Easter Yearling Sale has long been known as the ‘Best of the Best’, but to have the daughter of Winx, one of the greatest racehorses of all time, as part of the catalogue is a truly special opportunity, not just in the context of the Australian market, but the international bloodstock market as a whole.’’
Originally published as For the first time a foal out of champion mare Winx will be offered for sale
