It is the Australian horse racing’s equivalent of a royal birth.
Legendary race mare Winx produced a “healthy and happy” foal in the early hours of this morning at Coolmore Stud in the Hunter Valley.
The colt, sired by Arrowfield Stud’s leading stallion Snitzel, is the half-brother to the most expensive filly ever sold.
It is the second live foal out of Winx, 13, who set an Australasian record winning streak of 33 races, including 25 Group 1 wins, and a record four Cox Plates.
She won more than $26 million in prize money, was named World’s Best Racehorse in 2018 and retired a year later.
Champion mare Winx won a staggering $26 million in prize money on the track. (AAP: Steve Christo)
Owners say the champion mare delivered a “beautiful colt”, which could grow up to be “anything from a sprinter to a stayer”.
“We’re ecstatic,” part-owner Peter Tighe said.
“[It’s] something very special because Snitzel is getting on a bit in age now, he can’t go on forever. So we’re glad we were able to get her [Winx] pregnant to him and have a beautiful colt.
“Those bloodlines are exceptional, it’s not going to get any better around the world.”
Arrowfield’s Snitzel is regarded as one of Australia’s leading stallions. His 2024 service fee is almost $250,000. (Supplied: Arrowfield)
Worth the wait
Mr Tighe said Winx was three weeks overdue and gave birth just after midnight.
“She was under constant vet supervision, the team at Coolmore are second to none,” he said.
The mare delivered a stillborn foal in 2020 and was given a year off breeding before successfully producing the $10-million Pierro filly and now the Snitzel colt.
“He was up and about quickly … no dramas or anything like that,” Mr Tighe said.
“Just to have him healthy and happy and doing everything right for the first 12 months is all we really want and we can dream after that.
“[Winx] has done everything perfectly so far this morning; she knows what to do, that’s for sure.”
Winx gave birth to a filly that sold for a world-record $10 million in April this year. (Supplied: WINX official)
How much could the colt be worth?
The news that Winx’s first foal would be sold shocked the industry. The filly’s staggering $10 million sale price saw even more jaws drop.
The CEO of Bloodstock with Inglis — who sold the filly — Sebastian Hutch said it was impossible to know what the future holds for the colt, but he was glad to hear the foaling had been free of complications.
He was “reluctant to speculate” on the possible value of such a horse, and would not be drawn on comparisons to its half-sister.
“It’s a different ball game with the colt,” Mr Hutch said.
“Colts have the potential for a stud career and potential to have a huge number of offspring each and every season, whereas a filly or a mare is limited to one foal per season, if that.”
Sebastian Hutch, pictured with Winx’s first foal, says it’s impossible to predict the future and the value of the Snitzel colt. (Supplied: Inglis)
He said only very few colts made it to stand as commercial stallions and Winx’s latest foal would first need to prove himself on the track.
“He’s got all the ingredients, certainly genetically, to give himself every chance to go on and be a good racehorse,” Mr Hutch said.
He said it was a “rare occasion” for a colt to meet the required standard to become a stud stallion.
“In Australia in any given year, you’re talking about six, eight, 10 colts that merit in any given crop going on to be commercial stallions,” he said.
“They’re certainly worth a lot of money. We’re talking, in the case of the very best one, tens of millions of dollars.
“There will be colts in his crop that will reach that level that will be hugely valuable, whether it’s him, it’s impossible to know.”
