The owners of legendary racehorse, Winx, have made the surprise decision to sell her first foal.
In a move that will capture the imagination of big stables from right around the world, 7NEWS sports reporter Michelle Bishop has exclusively revealed that the foal will be offered for public auction at next year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
Winx’s foal was born near Muswellbrook to great fanfare just under a year ago.
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She is also the daughter of champion racehorse and leading sire Pierro, and those in the know are saying the filly will arguably be the most significant individual yearling to ever be offered for sale in the Southern Hemisphere.
“Horses like this just don’t come up for sale,” Inglis Bloodstock CEO Sebastian Hutch told 7NEWS.
She’s horse-racing royalty and, although she doesn’t know it, she is about to turn the racing world on its head.
Winx’s foal is expected to fetch a record price for a yearling at auction. Credit: X@HorganTania
It’s possible she will smash the $5 million record for a yearling.
Winx was a wonder mare, an Australian icon, and – with a record of 25 Group 1 wins and unbeaten in 33 starts – she is considered to be the greatest of all time.
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She was officially the world’s best race horse in 2018 with $26 million in career prize money.
“Winx is arguably the greatest racehorse in the history of the Australian thoroughbred,” Hutch said.
That call is likely to be argued in pubs and at race tracks forever, but what’s not in doubt is how much Australians loved her.
Now there’s a new generation.
Famous jockey Hugh Bowman with the Winx statue in 2021. Credit: Getty Images
“But a filly with credentials like these is extraordinarily rare – not just in the context of Australian thoroughbred breeding – but breeding right around the world,” Hutch said.
The filly goes up for auction next April – which is also the fifth anniversary of Winx’s last Group 1 win and farewell ride in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Randwick.
And the new owner will be hoping she goes from cute filly to a champion in the wink of an eye.
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