Tag: Coolmore Australia

Debbie Kepitis Secures Winx Filly for Record-Breaking Price

by TTR Aus/NZ

Drama. Emotion. History. Arguably the most highly anticipated offering ever seen at public auction delivered all that and more as the Pierro (Aus) filly out of wondermare Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) brought a jaw-dropping AU$10-million (US$6.6-million) in front of a packed Inglis auditorium.

There had been much speculation about how much the blue-blooded, Coolmore-consigned youngster would make, and an opening bid of $2-million duly foretold an utterly unprecedented price. The bid board struggled to keep pace with the scale and speed with which the increases came in. The bidding leapt from $3-million to $5-million in one fell swoop and continued to bound upward in seven-figure increments as an offer of $6-million was superseded by a play of $7.5-million.

As proceedings reached the business end Inglis's managing director Mark Webster, taking instructions on the phone from ebullient American owner John Stewart, signalled a bid of $9-million. However, within mere seconds that hand was gazumped when the Woppitt Bloodstock team around Debbie Kepitis, one of Winx's co-owners, delivered the $10-million knockout blow.

In the weeks leading up to the sale, Stewart had been promising on X to buy the horse. “We're 100% buying the Winx filly,” he said. After the sale, he Tweeted, “I am so happy for Debbie. Well played. Lots of respect.”

“These opportunities do not come along very often,” said auctioneer Jonathan D'Arcy as he tried to coax another increase from the assembled crowd. “Once in a lifetime.” But with no further bids forthcoming, a visibly emotional Kepitis had seized the moment.

Kepitis raced Winx in partnership with Peter and Patty Tighe's Magic Bloodstock and the late Richard Treweeke. In continuing her association with the star mare by buying out her partners in the filly, Coolmore's Tom Magnier said Kepitis had helped to write “the perfect story”. Kepitis explained that she had not set out to secure the filly when the decision was made to bring her to market, but said she had a change of heart as the date with destiny neared.

“I didn't come here to buy this horse originally,” she said. “We put her up for auction and then in the last few weeks, all of the family, we started to miss our daughter, granddaughter, so we just decided as best we could, if we could get her we would. I'm privileged to be able to secure this filly on behalf of my family to be able to see if she can get to the racetrack. If she can't get to the racetrack she'll be an amazing mum.

“She's Australian forever. She's going to be just fabulous. Hopefully she'll do a Winx, but it doesn't matter if she doesn't. Thank you to everybody around the world who has taken this on board. It's been thrilling to watch it and we're lucky enough that we came out winners.”

Kepitis confirmed that Winx's trainer Chris Waller would oversee the racing career of her daughter. She also expanded on the rationale behind bringing the filly to the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, saying: “Inglis were amazing. Along with Magic Millions, they are two amazing companies that do a fabulous job of presenting horses for sale in the Australian market. The ownership group had a big decision to decide when and where to sell her. She was always going to be a little bit of a later horse so leaving her until the April sale was really the major thing in our consideration.”

 

Winx rates as arguably the greatest racehorse to grace the Australian turf. Her completely unparalleled race record features no less than 37 victories, the last 33 of which were gained in consecutive fashion. Those successes include a world record tally of 25 Group 1s and saw her career earnings exceed AU$26-million in prize-money.

She is perhaps best remembered for being the only horse in history to win four runnings of the prestigious Cox Plate, while she also claimed the Horse of The Year title on four occasions.

Unsurprisingly the filly's price totally eclipsed the sum her celebrity dam fetched when she came under the hammer, as Winx was signed for by Guy Mulcaster at 'just' AU$230,000 at the 2013 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Winx has endured a challenging start to her breeding career having lost her first foal, by I Am Invincible (Aus), in October 2020. Magnier not only heaped praise on those who helped nurse Winx back to full health, but reiterated how close the story came to ending in complete tragedy.

“It's no secret that Winx lost her first foal and she nearly died,” he said. “To be fair to Paddy Sheehan (foaling manager) and all the team at Scone Equine (Hospital) they did an unbelievable job in saving the mare. To think that we have this mare today, who's had a foal, now a yearling, by Pierro, and such a good-looking filly, the behind the scenes of what we went through to get here today, it couldn't happen without the most understanding owners. They've been so patient and so understanding and the team at the farm have done an unbelievable job.”

Reflecting on the pressure of selling such a high-profile yearling, a relieved-looking Magnier said: “I think I have a little bit of an idea about the pressure Chris might've felt in some of those races!”

He continued: “The Kepitis family grew up beside us because our farms are next to each other in the Hunter Valley so I've known Debbie since I was young. They've been so good to us and they keep their horses at Coolmore. They won the Derby last week and I thought 'God, how do we beat that?!' and then we've come here today and done this. It's really fitting that this filly is going to the Kepitis family and it's just the perfect story. That was the most important result for me today so I'm just thrilled. I just want to say thanks to Paddy Sheehan and all the staff at Coolmore. To save the mare and get the foal, it's just a dream story.”

Coolmore Australia's Tom Magnier | Coolmore Australia

When asked whether the record-breaking price matched his expectations, Magnier said: “John Stewart was in Australia a couple of weeks ago and he was very confident of getting the filly, but when you come up against Debbie you want to have will and determination! I knew she was going to make a very high figure because someone is buying history. This is like a classic and a collector's item.”

“There's only one person who deserved today and that was Debbie and Paul and the whole family. I don't think you can put a value on a filly like that, especially to someone like Debbie who really wanted this filly. We've been through so much on this journey to get here today. It's just incredible.”

The filly's price was exactly double the previous record for an Australian yearling, with BC3 Thoroughbreds giving AU$5-million for the ill-fated Redoute's Choice (Aus) half-brother to Black Caviar (Aus) (Bel Esprit {Aus}) at the 2013 Easter Sale.

Among those on hand to witness the record-breaking transaction was another of Winx's co-owners, Peter Tighe.

“It was pretty exciting for everybody, not just me!” he said. “It's good for racing, good for breeding, there's no losers here. It's something you couldn't imagine. People want something and they're prepared to pay for it. If they can afford it, then good luck to them. It's great for Debbie Kepitis and great for the ownership group who'll benefit from the sale, we're really happy.”

He continued: “Winx is pregnant again so we're keen to get a nice healthy foal at the end of the year and see where that takes us. There's no guarantees that we'll sell or keep (that foal), we'll just take it as it comes. We do it because we love the sport and we love our horses. It's a funny thing to say but we didn't come here today for the money, we came here for a purpose and I think we've achieved that with getting the horse out into the breeding world. I'm looking forward to many more years of great stories that all stem from Winx.”

Inglis's CEO Sebastian Hutch also shared the sales company's view on proceedings, saying: “It's fantastic and a real privilege for our company to have the opportunity to offer a horse of this magnitude. Obviously Winx is an iconic figure in Australian sport, not just in racing. To have had the opportunity to bring her daughter to market was fantastic. For it to play out the way it has, and to facilitate the scale of interest we've had, has been incredible.”

Winx was bred by John Camilleri under the banner of Fairway Thoroughbreds from the Listed-winning Al Akbar mare Vegas Showgirl. This makes the mighty mare a half-sister to El Divino (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}), who did his bit to uphold family honour by dead-heating with Astern (Aus) in the Group 3 Kindergarten S.

The presence of Winx's daughter wasn't Camilleri's only involvement in the Easter Sale as he was the client behind James Harron when the agent secured day one's top lot, the Zoustar (Aus) filly out of Prompt Response (Aus), at AU$2.2-million. Sunday's session-topper held the record of most expensive yearling filly sold at Inglis for less than 24 hours.

The Winx filly becomes Pierro's most expensive yearling to date by some margin. The stallion's previous best came at last year's Easter Sale when Mick Wallace and Gandharvi signed at AU$1.75-million for the half-sister to Learning To Fly (Aus) (Justify {USA}).

Pierro, who was crowned leading first- and second-season sire during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns, stood the most recent breeding season at a fee of $82,500 (inc GST). The son of Lonhro (Aus) is the sire of six Group 1 winners.

The post Debbie Kepitis Secures Winx Filly for Record-Breaking Price appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Coolmore Australia Acquires Justify’s Storm Boy

by Trent Masenhelder/TTR AusNZ

Confirmed after speculation last month, outstanding 2-year-old Storm Boy (Aus) (Justify–Pelican {NZ}, by Fastnet Rock {Aus}) has been purchased by Coolmore for an undisclosed sum and will remain in training with Tulloch Lodge trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.

Storm Boy has developed a huge reputation during his fledgling career, posting three wins from as many starts, and he is all the rage for the world's richest race for juveniles, the Mar. 23 G1 Golden Slipper S., which Coolmore won last year with Shinzo (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}).

Following two impressive trial victories, Storm Boy saluted by 2.28l on debut at Rosehill in early December, before scoring a 2.4l triumph in the G3 BJ McLachlan S. at Eagle Farm three weeks later. The colt was sent out a warm favourite for the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic at the Gold Coast on Jan. 13, and, after a sluggish getaway and doing some work early, he dashed away from his rivals to notch a stunning 2.5l victory (video).

Storm Boy clocked 1:08.00 for the 1200-metre Millions journey, which was quicker than the time the 5-year-old, Group 3-winning sprinter King Of Sparta (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) ran in winning the Magic Millions Snippets on the same program.

Coolmore Australia boss Tom Magnier said the acquisition of the exceptional colt is a huge coup.

“We are extremely excited to secure Storm Boy with a great group of clients and friends from all over the world. His performance in the Magic Millions had to be seen to be believed. He had to do the work at both ends and broke his opponents' hearts in a similar way to what Justify himself did in his own racing career,” Magnier said.

“We have had a close eye on this colt since his first trial and he has raised the bar each time he has been seen in public.”

Not only is Storm Boy a top-quality racehorse, he boasts a stallion's pedigree.

The colt is by Coolmore's shuttle star Justify, whose progeny have won 39 stakes, and he has six Group 1 winners to his credit. Storm Boy is out of Pelican, a two-time winner at two. She is a daughter of Fastnet Rock. He is one of Coolmore's all-time great stallions with 43 elite-company victories on his CV.

Pelican is a half-sister to the three-time scorer and Group 3 placegetter Divan (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}). The colt's granddam, Seachange (NZ) (Cape Cross {Ire}), was a superstar, chalking up 14 wins, half of them at the top level. She earned the titles of New Zealand Horse of the Year in 2006/07 and 2007/08 and Champion Sprinter in New Zealand in 2007/08.

Storm Boy was bred by Rob and Barbara McClure's Morning Rise Stud, along with Coolmore partners. He was foaled and raised at Coolmore, before it offered the colt at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. The colt was knocked down to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott Racing/Kestrel Thoroughbreds for A$460,000.

“We want to be involved in Justify's best sons globally but given that Storm Boy was raised and grazed at Coolmore makes him even more special for us to be part of,” Magnier commented.

 

The post Coolmore Australia Acquires Justify’s Storm Boy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Coolmore Australia Secures Strawberry Hill Stud

by Kristen Manning/TTR AusNZ

One of Australia's finest equine properties, Strawberry Hill Stud, is set to continue its role as an industry leader with the famed thoroughbred nursery purchased by Coolmore Australia for an undisclosed amount.

And they are very pleased to have done so with Tom Magnier telling The Thoroughbred Report, “You just don't see places like that anywhere in the world go on the market.”

“The facilities are top class, everything has been done to the highest of standards,” he said, adding that not much needs to be done at the Mount White farm–“It is already at a Coolmore standard!

“It is all down to John's passion, there is no farm like it in Australia–it is just an unbelievable property, and one with such great proximity to Sydney.”

Ideally located just 58km north of Sydney, Strawberry Hill was named in honour of Singleton's great galloper Strawberry Road (Aus) (Whiskey Road).

A horse who so famously travelled the world, adding to his four local Group 1 victories (the 1983 WS Cox Plate, the 1983 AJC Derby, the 1983 Queensland Derby and the 1983 Rosehill Guineas) another two overseas–the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden in Germany and the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in France.

“The first time we saw the farm we knew we had to have it,” Magnier said, adding that whilst exact plans are still being formulated for its use alongside Coolmore's current properties, it is likely that “by the end of this spring carnival we will have horses spelling there.”

 

A Historic Property

Magnier is not only excited to see Strawberry Hill become part of the Coolmore Australia story due to the advantages of the farm but also because of its history.

“It is a huge thing for Coolmore to be able to continue the legacy that John has built. It is a historic property that has the famous results on the board… it is truly one of the most iconic properties in Australia.”

One that has been built up over the decades with Tom respectful of the “time, effort and passion that John and his family have put into this farm.”

“It takes decades to develop a farm to this standard and the attention to detail was something we noticed from the minute we drove in,” he said.

Looking forward to the farm becoming “a world-class spelling farm for the best horses,” Magnier said that Coolmore had “searched for a long time to find the right place and it is a huge thrill to end up with Strawberry Hill.”

 

Singleton's Legacy Lives On

Singleton dispersed his considerable thoroughbred assets via a Magic Millions sale in late August, one which saw the likes of Ciaron Maher Bloodstock, the China Horse Club, Newgate Farm, Go Bloodstock, Trilogy Racing, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott Racing, Kestrel Racing, Highway Farm (Yulong), Kingstar Farm and Kia Ora Stud secure quality bloodstock.

The sale saw 55 lots sell at a gross of A$15.497 million with the top-priced seller being the regally bred G2 Tea Rose S. winner Miss Fabulass (Aus) (Frankel {GB}), a daughter of the Australian Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Samantha Miss (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}) who was knocked down for A$1.85 million to Highway Farm (Yulong).

Magic Millions' Managing Director Barry Bowditch is happy at the outcome, noting that “one of the most successful thoroughbred breeding and racing operations globally, Coolmore identified from first inspection that this property was world-class and that it was an opportunity not to be missed.”

“It is a fantastic outcome,” Bowditch said.

And Clint Donovan, Director of Donovan & Co, agreed.

“It has been a pleasure representing John Singleton and the Singleton Group in facilitating this substantial transaction in partnership with Magic Millions,” he said.

“Strawberry Hill Stud is the pinnacle of equine farms of its size nationwide–the love, heart and soul poured into the farm by John over a number of years was clearly evident to all that visited this magical property.

“The result of the Coolmore Australia purchase is a fitting next chapter for this incredible piece of the country.”

The post Coolmore Australia Secures Strawberry Hill Stud appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Coolangatta Joins Coolmore; Will Visit Home Affairs

Coolangatta (Aus), the winner of the G1 Black Caviar Lightning S. on her final start on home turf at Flemington, has been acquired by Coolmore Australia. The daughter of Written Tycoon (Aus) will visit her fellow Lightning S. winner Home Affairs (Aus) during Australia's forthcoming breeding season.

Bred by Highclere Stud and trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace for a partnership which included Ozzie Kheir, Coolangatta was an exciting prospect from the outset. She was the decisive winner of the G3 Keeenland Gimcrack S. on debut at Randwick before adding another pair of stakes victories to her record and finishing third in the G1 Golden Slipper.

At three, she landed the first of her two Group 1 victories under Jamie Kah in the Moir S. at Moonee Valley, in which she beat a select field of older horses, including her stable-mate and fellow Group 1 winner Bella Nipotina (Aus) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}).

“Coolangatta is one of the premier sprinting fillies seen in Australia in recent times. She was brilliantly fast and has an extremely attractive pedigree,” Tom Moore, Coolmore Australia's head of marketing and nominations, told TTR AusNZ.

“We found her an extremely appealing prospect and we feel she will be perfectly suited to Home Affairs, both of whom were Lightning Stakes winners down the straight at Flemington as 3-year-olds, both of whom are extremely fast and good-looking. We think she's the perfect mare for one of the most exciting young stallion prospects to retire to stud in a long time.”

A trip to Royal Ascot was teed up following Coolangatta's win in the Lightning in February and, on what would transpire to be her final outing, she finished six and a half lengths behind Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) when 11th in the G1 King's Stand S. on her sole start outside Australia.

Moore added, “She will head up to Coolmore in the near future and prepare for her life as a broodmare. Tom Magnier and Ozzie [Kheir] have a good relationship and we have had plenty of luck together through Yes Yes Yes and Sir Dragonet, who was bought out of Ballydoyle before coming to Australia and winning the Cox Plate. We hope Coolangatta can continue to be lucky for the association and we thank Ozzie and his partners for entrusting us with the next stage of her career.”

 

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