Winx’s Snitzel colt set to steal Easter spotlight – Inglis releases expanded catalogue for blue riband sale

At about 4pm on a Sunday in late March, Inglis’ Sydney thoroughbred sales auditorium will almost certainly fall silent.

And that is because that is when a colt by Snitzel – the second live foal out of immortal mare Winx – is set to walk into the ring at the auction house’s Riverside Stables complex and be offered for sale by her breeders.

The colt, catalogued as Lot 187, is the headline-grabber just as her half-sister was at the same sale two years ago when she was sold for a world-record price for a yearling filly of $10 million at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale in 2024.

The 2026 sale will be held over two days, March 29 and 30.

The fact the Snitzel-Winx colt, who is being consigned by Coolmore, is being sold on a Sunday, will ensure that the Warwick Farm complex will be full and that his sale will be on prime-time television news bulletins that night.

Inglis confirmed the colt’s Easter presence in June last year, but on Thursday the company published its full 2026 line-up of 472 yearlings, an increase of 51 year-on-year.

Eighty Easter yearlings are either the progeny of, or siblings to, Group 1 winners, while 259 lots have close ties to stakes winners.

Siblings to 32 Group 1 winners are on offer, including relations to Switzerland, Zougotcha, Golden Sixty, Private Eye, Hitotsu, Fireburn, Schwarz and Trapeze Artist, alongside progeny of 51 individual Group 1 winners such as Sunlight, Melody Belle, Montefilia, Viddora, Shoals, In Her Time and Sierra Sue.

Buyers will be able to inspect stock by 64 stallions, led numerically by Snitzel, I Am Invincible and Zoustar, with strong representation from Extreme Choice, Too Darn Hot, Ole Kirk, Wootton Bassett, Home Affairs, Stay Inside, Justify, Maurice and Frankel among a deep local and international roster.

Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch said “demand for places in the sale was overwhelmingly strong” and that the auction house was “determined to try and manage the numbers carefully and I’m pleased with where we have settled”.

“It’s also important to note that at the 2025 renewal of Easter, 104 yearlings could have been bought for $200,000 or less, highlighting the value on offer at Easter,” Hutch said.

“Easter produces colts that become stallions, outstanding fillies that can create a breeding dynasty and is the sale that consistently produces the most high-class two-year-olds as a percentage of lots offered.

Hutch also said Easter possesses the highest stakes-winners-to-runners ratio of any Australasian yearling sale, with buyers 31 per cent more likely to find a Group winner at Easter than the next best-performed sale.  

“The group of fillies assembled for the sale is arguably stronger than at any time in recent history and it’s worth bearing in mind that the dams of each of the past three winners of the Group 1 Golden Slipper were sourced as yearlings at Easter,” he said.

“The opportunity to offer the Snitzel son of 25-time Group 1-winning champion mare Winx this year is a tremendous privilege and we are very much looking forward to it being another memorable experience.’’