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to $5-million in one fell swoop and continued to bound upward in seven-figure increments as an offer of $6-million was superseded by a play of $7.5-million.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.

Source of original post

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.

Source of original post

Moore To Reunite With Shinzo in the Golden Rose

Europe's champion rider Ryan Moore will reunite with Golden Slipper winner Shinzo (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}) for the G1 Golden Rose at Rosehill Sept. 23. The announcement was made after James McDonald, aboard for a pair of group wins earlier this season, sustained a fracture in his left foot that will require a four-week hiatus.

“Shinzo is a high profile colt, he is a Golden Slipper winner [Mar. 18] and Ryan knows the horse as well as anyone,” Coolmore's Tom Magnier told Racenet.

Magnier and Moore watched Shinzo's exhibition gallop alongside star stablemate Militarize at Royal Randwick last weekend.

“I remember Ryan telling me after the Golden Slipper that Shinzo was more like a 3-year-old back then and he couldn't believe the size and power he saw in the gallop,” Magnier said of the colt's last gallop. “Ryan can't wait to get back and ride Shinzo in the Golden Rose.”

Following the Golden Rose, trainer Chris Waller has expressed an interest in running Shinzo in the $20M The TAB Everest next month.

The post Moore To Reunite With Shinzo in the Golden Rose appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘It Would Be Very Tempting’: Cox Plate A Possibility For Paddington

by Trent Masenhelder/TTR AusNZ

Three-time Group 1 winner Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) is under consideration for the A$5-million G1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley on Oct. 28, Coolmore's Tom Magnier revealed on Wednesday morning.

A winner of six of his seven starts in succession including the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, G1 St James's Palace S., and G1 Eclipse earlier this year, the son of Modern Eagle (Ger) (Montjeu {Ire}) holds a slew of entries at the top table in Europe, as well.

Speaking to RSN Racing And Sport, Magnier said of the Cox Plate possible, “We're going to be chatting about that over the next couple of days [bringing horses to Australia].

“When you look at Paddington, he is the best 3-year-old in Europe. Obviously, we've got Auguste Rodin that won the English Derby–he's a machine, but I was looking at Paddington and what he is doing is breathtaking. I don't know if anybody saw him running in the Coral-Eclipse the other day, the race Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) was in… that was an unbelievable field and he just decimated them. He is an absolute superstar.

“You'd have to think that if he lined up in a Cox Plate, he'd be very hard to beat. I'm not saying that that's going to happen, but we obviously hold Australian racing in very high regard and bringing a horse like Paddington down for a Cox Plate… it would be tempting and very exciting.”

Magnier's comments coincide with the Moonee Valley Racing Club's (MVRC) announcement that the winner of next month's G1 Juddmonte International S. will be handed a 'golden ticket' into the Cox Plate.

Interestingly, the G1 Juddmonte International S., which will be run at York on Aug. 23, is a possible option for Paddington and his triple Group 1-winning stablemate Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

“We're very keen to continue our great association with York Racecourse, and the winner of this year's race will be more than worthy of a place in the 2023 Ladbrokes Cox Plate,” MVRC's head of racing, Charlotte Mills, told TTR AusNZ.

Aidan O'Brien, who won the Cox Plate in 2014 with Adelaide (Ire), before his son Joseph was victorious in 2021 with State Of Rest (Ire), said the Cox Plate is a great stallion-making race.

“The Cox Plate has enormous prestige and is a very important race for a colt to win, especially for a potential dual-hemisphere stallion. We won it with Adelaide and more recently Joseph won it with State Of Rest. It is always a great race and a very prestigious race on the international calendar,” O'Brien said.

Previous winners of the Juddmonte International S. include Singspiel (Ire), Giant's Causeway, Falbrav (Ire), Frankel (GB), Sea The Stars (Ire) and Baaeed (GB). O'Brien is a five-time winner of the Juddmonte, with his most recent success being in 2019 when Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) scored under Ryan Moore.

The Juddmonte International S. becomes the third golden ticket race, joining the GI Saratoga Derby and G1 Takarazuka Kinen.

“We've been thrilled with the reception that we've had from the international jurisdictions for the international qualifiers; we're getting positive conversations and dialogue between trainers, jurisdictions and ourselves,” Mills added.

“Between Racing Victoria and the clubs here in Victoria, we are actively going out to recruit to ensure we're doing everything in our capacity to bring the best horses to Australia. With the best of our local horses and the opportunities to have international raiders, we want to present the best possible product on the day.

“To have a pioneer like Aidan O'Brien return, that would be a huge thrill for the club and for the race itself. We're certainly happy with the pace of interest we're receiving from international connections, and there are some domestic talents that we are working just as hard on, such as Amelia's Jewel (Aus) (Siyouni {Fr})–we want her in the race.”

The post ‘It Would Be Very Tempting’: Cox Plate A Possibility For Paddington appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights