Winx’s first foal and Sydney’s first cheetah cubs in breeding bonanza
Retired champion mare Winx has added ‘super mum’ to her CV after giving birth in NSW to a healthy filly, while the state also welcomed Sydney’s first cheetah cubs in a spring of peak cuteness
READING LEVEL: GREEN
The greatest racehorse of them all gave birth to a healthy filly* foal* at a private location in NSW’s Hunter Valley on Friday night.
Remarkably, when Winx gave birth at 10pm, the heavy rain that had hammered the region all week stopped within the hour.
“It must have been a sign, because it hasn’t rained since the filly was born,’’ owner Peter Tighe said on Saturday.
Tighe and his wife, Patti, plus fellow part-owners Debbie and Paul Kepitis, were alerted on Friday that Winx’s foal was imminent*. Both couples were able to travel to the Hunter Valley stud to witness the birth.
“We watched Winx give birth to her foal – it was breathtaking,’’ Mr Tighe said.
“It was a special moment, something we will never forget. Everything was natural with the birth and the filly was able to stand up in about 15 minutes.’’
Winx’s trainer Chris Waller, accompanied by his wife Stephanie and their children, made an early morning dash to the stud to see the great mare and her newborn foal.
Waller trained Winx throughout her fabled career of 37 wins from 43 starts, including the last 33 races in succession*, finishing with a famous win in her final race, the 2019 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Sydney’s Royal Randwick.
She won 25 Group 1 races, including four consecutive* Cox Plates and more than $26.4 million prize money, both world records.
Although Winx has been retired from racing for more than three years, she is still revered* by race fans.
Social media lit up with suggestions for the filly’s name including “Pierless*”, “Phoenix”, “Pinx”, “Wierro” and “Winxerro”.
As word of Winx’s birth spread, wellwishers from around the world sent their congratulations to the mare’s owners via Twitter.
After confirming an uncomplicated pregnancy, the mare’s ownership group announced the safe delivery of Winx’s filly foal.
“Both mum and foal are healthy and doing very well,’’ the statement read.
“Thank you to the amazing team who have cared for Winx and her filly throughout this journey.
“We wish Winx all the best as she starts this new chapter as a ‘Super Mum’.’’
The filly is valued at around $5 million but it is understood she is not for sale.
The filly foal’s birth is part of a bumper breeding season in NSW, with the Wild Cat Conservation Centre also unveiling its newest family members, the first two baby cheetahs ever bred in Sydney.
“Cheetahs are notoriously hard to breed," centre director Ben Britton said. "Unlike lions and tigers, who breed easily, they are known to be a difficult species. The boys are always interested, but you have to see if the female wants to make that choice.”
New mum Emmy has taken up the majority of the parenting duties now that dad Duke’s duties are done, Mr Britton said.
The new cubs are part of a global “insurance policy” aimed at boosting numbers outside of their African homeland in case numbers in the wild fall.
The two cute cubs, who have yet to be named, will eventually make their way to Africa when they are ready.
“We know as humans what quarantine is like – it could be the nicest hotel in Australia but you still want to get out and animals are the same,” Mr Britton said.
“They don’t want to be in one place all the time … the hope is the cats produced here can go back and repopulate their natural home.”
GLOSSARY
- filly: young female horse
- foal: baby horse less than a year old
- imminent: ready to happen, likely to take place very soon
- succession: a number of persons, things or events that follow each other in sequence
- consecutive: following one after the other without interruption
- revered: to greatly respect and admire someone or something
- Pierless and similar name suggestions: a play on words combining “peerless” – meaning unequalled, beyond compare – and the stallion Pierro who fathered the foal
EXTRA READING
Cartoon celebrates a Veery Elleegant winner
Winx ‘already greatest of all time’
Abuse of ex-racehorses is a crying shame
QUICK QUIZ
- How long did it take the filly foal to stand?
- Winx won how many races from what total number of starts?
- Which two world records did the champion racehorse set?
- What was Winx’s final race and where was it run?
- With her elite pedigree, the filly foal is estimated to be worth how much money?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Super mum
One of the greatest racehorses of all time gave birth to a healthy filly foal on the weekend. Winx was bred with a mare called “Pierro” to make the foal. .
A few names were suggested in the Kids News article. Without using those, come up two or three potential names for this very valuable female foal.
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Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
If this foal is worth so much, why do you think it’s not for sale?
What do you think the owners plan to do with Winx and her baby?
Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Speed season
Something must be in the water in NSW! Two super speedy mums giving birth to a new generation of animals born to run, and run fast.
There are already many suggestions for Winx’s foal’s name, but can you come up with a cute pair of names for the cheetah cubs?
Create a fact file for them. Find out some basic facts about cheetahs to put in their file. Remember, even though these two cubs have been born in captivity, they are hoping to be released back into the wild, so focus your fact file on that.