‘She’s Australian forever and she’s going to be just fabulous’
Collector’s item Winx filly sets record at $10 million
Winx’s (Street Cry) filly is officially valued at $10 million, but to Debbie Kepitis – one of the great mare’s co-owners – the daughter of Pierro (Lonhro) is priceless.
As the weeks and days went by, and the enormity of the impending sale of their “daughter and granddaughter” at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale came closer to reality, Kepitis resolved with her husband Paul and daughters Alinta, Lara and Talia that their family racing and breeding business Woppitt Bloodstock would buy Winx’s first and only foal thus far.
Kepitis said she couldn’t bare the thought of not retaining ownership of the filly whose mother took her and her fellow co-owners, Peter Tighe and the late Richard Treweeke, on the ride of a lifetime, winning 37 races, 33 in succession and 25 at Group 1 level including four historic Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) triumphs.
Speaking through tears of joy post the sale, Kepitis was relieved that she had been able to buy out her co-owners even if it came with a $10 million price tag, twice the Australasian sale record of $5 million, a figure which also makes her the highest-priced yearling filly ever sold in the world.
“I didn’t come here to buy this horse originally,” Debbie Kepitis said.
Hopefully she’ll do a Winx, but it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t
“We put her up for auction and then, in the last few weeks, all of our family started to miss our daughter, our granddaughter, so we just decided that, as best we could, if we could get her we would.
“I am privileged to have been able to secure this filly on behalf of my family, to be able to hopefully see if she can get to the racetrack and, if she can’t get to the racetrack, she’ll be an amazing mum.
“She’s Australian forever and she’s going to be just fabulous. Hopefully she’ll do a Winx, but it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t.”
Not that there was any doubt about who would be tasked with training the filly, but Kepitis emphatically declared that she would be entrusted to Chris Waller, the man who meticulously managed the extraordinary racing career of Winx herself.
On an remarkable day at Riverside, bidding – which was conducted by long-serving Inglis auctioneer Jonathan D’Arcy – opened at $2 million, called by Inglis Bloodstock’s chief executive Sebastian Hutch, before the company’s managing director Mark Webster, acting for the outspoken American investor John Stewart, jumped in at $2.5 million.
Kepitis, seated at her auditorium table surrounded by her family, bid $3 million before Webster called a $5 million bid; Kepitis struck again at $6 million, before Stewart responded with $7.5 million and Woppitt Bloodstock returned serve at $8 million.
I knew she was going to make a very high figure because somebody’s buying history
Resolute Racing’s Stewart instructed Webster to hit $9 million before Kepitis raised the stakes once again to an eye-watering $10 million and with that Stewart conceded defeat forcing Webster to hang up the phone and gesture to D’Arcy that his client was out, prompting the auctioneer to bring the gavel down and end the historic proceedings.
With Woppitt Bloodstock officially declared as the buyers, on-lookers found it hard to hold their applause as she left the ring.
Stewart, however, didn’t let the disappointment get to him, parting with $3 million later in the day for a Coolmore-sold I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) filly out of Group 1-winning mare Booker (I Am Invincible).
Meet Paddy Sheehan, Foaling Manager at #Coolmore. For 18 years he has worked to foal down our mares inc the Street Cry x Vegas Showgirl filly, aka #Winx. Paddy was also there for the foaling of ‘little Winx’ & he is honored to be leading her into the ring today.#HomeOfChampions pic.twitter.com/ryVJso6bXQ
— Coolmore Australia (@CoolmoreAus) April 8, 2024
Coolmore’s Tom Magnier used the occasion to remember the difficult days Winx endured during her first foaling, which almost claimed the champion mare’s life.
Paddy Sheehan, who had been by Winx’s side during that traumatic first foaling at Coolmore’s Jerrys Plains stud, also had the honour of leading the Pierro filly through the Riverside Stables ring in front of a packed auditorium and concourse.
“I knew she was going to make a very high figure because somebody’s buying history – this is a classic, it’s a collectors’ item – and there’s only one person who deserved today and that was Debbie and Paul and the family,” Magnier said.
Richard Treweeke’s daughter Elizabeth was also at Riverside Stables to witness history.
For Tighe, who had last week expressed his interest in retaining a share in the filly, Monday’s record price tag was “something you couldn’t imagine” and that her sale was “good for racing, good for breeding, good for everyone”.
“People want something and they’re prepared to pay for it and if you can afford it, good luck to you,” Tighe said.
“It’s great for Debbie Kepitis, who bought her, and it’s great for the ownership group who benefit from the sale.
“We do it because we love our horses and the sport. It is 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 by getting the horse out into the breeding world.
“We look forward to many more great stories which have all stemmed from Winx.”
Hutch couldn’t help but also be caught up in the moment.
THE QUEEN SELLS! A record breaking price of $10 million for the Pierro x Winx filly at the #InglisEaster sale here at Riverside. A huge result for @coolmorestud as Lot 391 sells to @WoppittB. Congratulations to @DKepitis on your purchase of this heavily sought after yearling.… pic.twitter.com/3yIuPGwUTA
— Inglis (@inglis_sales) April 8, 2024
“I think what struck me, and I was very much engaged in the auction … was struck by the gasps when the bid went to $5 million,” he said.
“It was almost like, ‘wow, we didn’t think this was going to happen’. So, that was quite cool. In any sport, there’s always got to be a champion, and in any given year, there’s going to be a winner of something. Horses like Winx operate on a different planet to the rest of them.
“It felt like a ‘I was there’ moment.”
Underbidder Stewart, the MiddleGround Capital founder, later posted on X: “Mission accomplished. I said before that my goal was for the filly to stay in Australia. Congratulations to Debbie Kepitis and everyone in Australia! The Winx filly is right where she belongs.
“I hope I played a small part in discouraging some of the international players out of the auction.”
We look forward to many more great stories which have all stemmed from Winx
Before Monday’s action unfolded, a Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) half-brother to another champion mare in Black Caviar (Bel Esprit), latterly dubbed “Jimmy”, held the yearling record in Australia having fetched $5 million at the 2013 Inglis Easter sale while a year earlier his sister made $2.6 million at the Easter sale, then the highest price for a yearling filly in Australia.
The world all-time yearling auction high was set in the bullish times of 1985, when US$13.1 million was spent on Seattle Dancer (Nijinsky), a half-brother to Seattle Slew (Bold Reasoning), bought by a consortium of owners including Robert Sangster, John Magnier and Stavros Niarchos, at the Kentucky July Selected Yearling Sale.
