Cover image courtesy of Inglis
The daughter of Pierro will be offered by Coolmore, the farm on which Winx herself was raised, on behalf of her owners Peter and Patty Tighe, Woppitt Bloodstock, Elizabeth Treweeke and Rick Treweeke on Day 2 of the Inglis Easter sale, which is to be held at Inglis’ Riverside Stables complex on on Sunday, April 7 and Monday, April 8 in 2023.
In what Inglis CEO Sebastian Hutch believes is a huge coup not only for the auction house, but the bloodstock industry in general, Inglis will set about attracting a buying bench befitting of the queen of Australian racing, and Hutch can hardly contain his excitement at the prospect of selling such a rare collector’s item.
“It’s as excited as I’ve been in my time at Inglis and I can’t imagine too many times in my bloodstock life that I’d be more excited,” he said.
“It’s as excited as I’ve been in my time at Inglis and I can’t imagine too many times in my bloodstock life that I’d be more excited.” - Sebastian Hutch
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for our business, but generally speaking it’s just going to be fantastic for the Australian thoroughbred.
“There is tremendous respect for the Australian thoroughbred internationally and you only have to look at the exploits of the horses that have travelled overseas in the past 20 years to see the significant impression they are capable of making, whether it’s as racehorses, stallions or mares.
“This is a horse that we can promote to the world and have the world embrace a filly of this quality.”
Sebastian Hutch | Image courtesy of Inglis
Winx, who officially turned 12 by her birthdate on Thursday, hasn’t had the easiest of starts to life as a broodmare, losing her first foal by Champion Sire I Am Invincible and missing to Arrowfield Stud stalwart Snitzel last year.
Such circumstances make it all the more special that Inglis has been entrusted with selling her first live foal according to Hutch, who was quick to thank her ownership group for providing the auction house with such a unique opportunity.
“We were approached some time ago about the possibility that the filly might be sold and we put forward as to why we thought Easter was the most appropriate place for her to go to sale,” Hutch recalled.
“It’s a tremendous endorsement of our business by the ownership group and we’re very grateful to them. It’s very hard to put into context the significance of it.
“It’s a tremendous endorsement of our business by the ownership group and we’re very grateful to them. It’s very hard to put into context the significance of it.” - Sebastian Hutch
“This filly could be sold by anyone anywhere in the world effectively. She’s a collector's item in every sense of the word and to be given the opportunity to market this filly to the world is a special opportunity for our business, and one that our whole team is extraordinarily excited about.”
Perfect proposition
It is not difficult to see why Hutch and the Inglis team are so excited about the prospect of selling what is sure to be one of the most sought-after yearlings of the past decade.
Winx, after all, won a staggering 33 consecutive races - 25 of which were at Group 1 level - and re-wrote just about every record in the book during her glittering race career under the watchful eye of Champion Trainer Chris Waller.
Candice Persijn, Chris Waller and Umut Odemislioglu with Champion mare, Winx | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Pierro, the undefeated Triple Crown-winning 2-year-old, was a Champion Racehorse himself and has continued that success in the breeding barn, siring six individual Group 1 winners to date and being crowned the Champion Sire of his crop in each of his first three seasons at stud.
Pedigrees rarely come more impressive than that, and Hutch feels that the filly is right up there with some of the best-credentialled yearlings ever to pass through the Inglis sales ring.
“I’ve worked at Inglis for less than five years, so I probably can’t speak beyond my time here, but as far as yearlings go it’s hard to put together a better set of credentials than this filly,” he said.
“Pierro is a fantastic stallion, Street Cry is an outstanding broodmare sire and obviously Winx is beyond compare as a race filly.
“Pierro is a fantastic stallion, Street Cry is an outstanding broodmare sire and obviously Winx is beyond compare as a race filly.” - Sebastian Hutch
“I’ve been fortunate enough to see this filly a number of times through her early life and I think when people see her they’ll recognise that she’s a high-quality filly in her own right, independent of her parents.
“Obviously she’s a beautifully bred filly and she was bred with the intent of being a top-class racehorse. But the fact that, not only is she a daughter of Pierro, but a daughter of one of the greatest racehorses of all time, it’s kind of extraordinary to stand in front of that horse and see how good she is. It’s something very special indeed.”
Buyers and racing aficionados alike will already be wondering if the filly bears any resemblance to her illustrious mother, and, much to his delight, Hutch is of the opinion that she has inherited many of Winx’s most distinctive and desirable physical characteristics.
“She’s a beautifully conformed filly and is very much in keeping physically with the best qualities of her mother,” Hutch revealed.
Pierro | Standing at Coolmore
“She is very athletic, she has tremendously purposeful movement and she looks every inch of what you’d want a prospective top-class racehorse to look like.
“One of Winx’s best characteristics was that she had this tremendous girth and lung capacity and great purpose to her movement, and this filly has both of those things.
“She’s a beautiful filly as she stands today and she has a lot of strength for a filly of her age, but I think there isn’t any doubt in the minds of the people that care for her day to day that she’s just getting better and better all the time.
“I fully believe that she’ll present as a pretty spectacular specimen come the sale in April.”
One of a kind
The very nature of the bloodstock industry means that fillies like this rarely make it to public auction in other racing jurisdictions around the world, with many often ending up in the hands of breeding powerhouses like Coolmore and Godolphin and subsequently being retained to race.
Pierro x Winx (filly) | Image courtesy of Inglis
As such, the decision to sell Winx’s very first and only living foal at auction is a real coup for the Australian bloodstock industry according to Hutch, who was keen to stress that his team will not be resting on their laurels in the lead up to the Easter sale.
“It prompted me to do a bit of research as to the precedent on these sort of things and it really doesn’t happen terribly often that a horse with these kinds of credentials would go to auction, particularly a filly,” Hutch said.
“It prompted me to do a bit of research as to the precedent on these sort of things and it really doesn’t happen terribly often that a horse with these kinds of credentials would go to auction, particularly a filly.” - Sebastian Hutch
“There are examples of colts out of top-class racemares going to sale, but it’s very, very rare to find an instance where a filly of this quality will go to sale and that makes it even more exciting.
“This is a totally unique opportunity for people, both domestically and internationally, to become part of something that is very, very special and potentially as rare as being a one off.
“We’ll be working as hard as we possibly can to do the filly justice and to ensure her owners have the most enjoyable experience that they possibly can. It’s obviously going to be an emotional time for them all given their connection with the mare and we’re very sensitive to the significance of her and this filly. It’s not a responsibility that we’re going to take for granted.”
Although we are still closer to this year’s Easter sale than next, the relentless competition for Australasia’s best yearlings means that work is well underway to assemble a typically star-studded catalogue for what most consider to be Inglis’ principle auction.
Hutch revealed that Inglis already has an ‘extraordinary’ lineup of yearlings committed to next year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, but the Irishman could not hide his delight at securing such a star attraction so far out from the two-day spectacular.
“We’re very fortunate that year after year the best breeders in Australia support us with their best yearlings, and this sale is synonymous with being the best of the best,” he said.
Patty and Peter Tighe, Winx, Umut Odemislioglu, Debbie and Paul Kepitis | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“We work exceptionally hard developing buyers for the sale every year, but an announcement like this has the capacity to attract a whole new audience to the sale.
“I think people will recognise the fact that a filly of this quality is going to attract a volume of attention and publicity that is pretty much unprecedented for any sale in the history of Australian racing and breeding.
“Ordinarily it’s a sale that everybody wants to be a part of anyway, but I think this is only going to enhance that further. I just think the atmosphere and sense of occasion that it’s going to create during the sale will be beyond compare.”
Textbook timing
The announcement that Winx’s first foal will be offered for public auction next year could hardly have come at a more appropriate time, with Winx’s half-sister Time Of My Life (I Am Invincible) creating a huge impression when winning on debut at Geelong only three days ago.
Bred by John Camilleri, just like her illustrious sibling, Time Of My Life is trained by a man who knows a thing or two about champion racemares in Peter Moody, who now operates in partnership with talented young horsewoman Katherine Coleman from their base at Pakenham in Victoria.
Judging by the apparent strength of the maiden, Time Of My Life could be yet another feather in the cap for Winx’s Pierro filly, who is almost certain to benefit from a few more pedigree updates before she enters the ring on April 8.
“From what I understand, there were a number of horses in that maiden that were touted as being well above average, so to dismiss them in the manner that she did speaks volumes for her talent,” Hutch said of the aptly monikered Time Of My Life.
“Certainly after the way she won the other day, she looks more than capable of making a big impression at black-type level.
“Certainly after the way she (Time Of My Life) won the other day, she looks more than capable of making a big impression at black-type level.” - Sebastian Hutch
“Vegas Showgirl has already done a fantastic job with Winx and El Divino. A number of their other siblings have shown talent, but this filly is maybe the first one for a while to get people as excited as you can get about a debut winner in September.
“This is going to be a pedigree that’s going to get better and better as time goes by. It’s safe to say that whatever black type is on the page today is going to be significantly less than what’s going to be on there in five, 10 or 15 years' time.”
Difficult decision
There are few people more closely associated with Winx than her co-owner Debbie Kepitis, who has enjoyed a huge amount of success as a breeder under both the Ingham Racing and Woppitt Bloodstock banners.
With Winx’s first living foal being by Pierro, a Golden Slipper-winning son of the Ingham-bred and raced champion Lonhro, the filly represented a real family affair for Kepitis, who revealed to TTR AusNZ the thought process behind the ownership group’s decision to sell the regally-bred yearling.
Debbie Kepitis and Hugh Bowman | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“It’s never easy to come to a decision to sell any of your progeny when you breed them and this decision was not made lightly,” she said. “You ultimately breed what you like to race, so it’s always an emotional and difficult decision.
“We had an amazing time with Winx and it would be so easy to have just kept this filly in the ownership group and race her on, but when we had such a beautiful specimen, it just seemed the right thing to let her go and let another group of people enjoy the fun we had.
“Winx has put her heart and soul into this wonderful foal and she deserves to have this amazing product shown to everybody.”
“Winx has put her heart and soul into this wonderful foal and she deserves to have this amazing product shown to everybody.” - Debbie Kepitis
The decision to sell Winx’s Pierro filly was in no way affected by Time Of My Life’s impressive debut win at Geelong last week according to Kepitis, who reiterated that the prospect of selling the prized offering had been mooted amongst the ownership group for some time.
She is not yet sure what her overriding emotion will be when the time comes for Winx’s Pierro filly to enter the sales ring, but Kepitis and her fellow owners are confident that the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale is the right place to showcase such a rare commodity.
“It hasn’t been a quick decision and we’ve been discussing this as an ownership group for a long time, but we are 100 per cent all behind this decision,” she said.
“It hasn’t been a quick decision and we’ve been discussing this as an ownership group for a long time, but we are 100 per cent all behind this decision.” - Debbie Kepitis
“This is not a simple process. We had to look at every scenario to make sure we were totally comfortable with all the factors. We also had to look at where we should showcase her and that was a challenging decision that we had to go through as well.
“We have two amazing bloodstock companies in Australia. Winx was bought at Magic Millions, so people would say naturally she should go there, but as we all discussed, when you’re showing a product of that amazing mare you want them at their absolute best.
“You also want them to be able to cope with it. This is going to be a big hoopla sale, so she has to have the maturity to cope with being on show. It’s like when you take a really good racehorse to the races for the first time, the good trainers make sure that their product is going to showcase well, and that’s what we as an ownership group believe we needed to do.
“We kept discussing it and this looked like the best way forward with this beautiful little filly. It’ll be heart in the mouth stuff.”
One thing’s for certain, the eyes of the bloodstock world will descend on Riverside Stables come April 8 as a new chapter in Winx’s wonderful story is written.
