Winx filly underbidder John Stewart buys star 3yo for $3.2m
American billionaire John Stewart bid $3.2 million to secure top three-year-old filly Tutta La Vita at the Inglis Chairman's Sale on Thursday night.
Stewart, who was the underbidder at $9 million for the Winx yearling filly that was sold to Debbie Kepitis for a world record $10 million at the Inglis Easter Sale, confirmed Tutta La Vita would remain in training with Chris Waller and continue her preparation for next month's Group 1 Queensland Oaks.
Twice Group 1-placed this autumn, Tutta La Vita will trial at Rosehill on Monday.Tutta La Vita and Oakfield Waratah take out the first two races on the card at Rosehill ðŸÂÂŽ @KPMcEvoy@cwallerracingpic.twitter.com/i52o7AHDHY
- 7HorseRacing ðŸÂÂŽ (@7horseracing) June 17, 2023
Stewart said Waller should continue to prepare Tutta La Vita as "he's training the horse and how well he knows the horse was one of the reasons we decided to buy her".
"I had one horse in September and now I have over 100 in America and a race mare like Tutta La Vita with her pedigree and those accomplishments fits right into our program,'' Stewart said.
American racehorse owner John Stewart. Picture: File
But Tutta La Vita wasn't the top-priced lot at the Chairman's Sale - that honour went to two-time Group 1 winner She's Extreme who sold for $3.4 million, the second-most expensive horse ever sold at the sale.
Coolmore Australia supremo Tom Magnier made the winning bid for She's Extreme, winner of the Champagne Stakes and VRC Oaks two years ago.
Magnier said She's Extreme would likely be served by either Shinzo, Wootton Bassett or Home Affairs in the coming spring breeding season.
"She's Extreme is a very rare offering in that it's not often a filly can win a Group 1 at two and train on and win an Oaks, it puts herself in very rare company,'' Moore said.
"She's by a great stallion in Extreme Choice, she had everything that we look for in these elite mares and the type of mares that we come to the Chairman's Sale to buy.
"If you look back over the past few years and the mares that we've identified here at this sale, we've had a huge amount of luck with them obviously highlighted by Samaready who was carrying Shinzo at the time, and Booker, an elite, fast Group 1-winning mare with a pedigree and her first two foals have netted $5.5 million for us.''
She's Extreme (Tommy Berry) wins the VRC Oaks in 2022. Picture: Vince Caligiuri / Getty Images
She's Extreme was one of nine lost to realise $1m or more at the Riverside sale complex.
The sale averaged a Southern Hemisphere mares sale record of $622,946, eclipsing last year's record by 12%.
Coolmore was the leading buyer, taking home three mares - She's Extreme, C'est Magique ($1.7 million) and Autumn Ballet ($1.6 million) - for a total spend of $6.7 million.
Newgate was the leading vendor, selling 16 of their offerings for an aggregate of $11,795,000.
Other fillies or mares to fetch seven figures or more were Kimochi ($2.2 million), C'est Magique ($1.7 million), Pennyweka ($1.6 million), Pinocchio ($1.15 million), Startantes ($1.15 million) and Banana Queen ($1 million).
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