Winx owner Debbie Kepitis on how the horse changed her life
FOR racing fans, seeing Debbie Kepitis outside of a racetrack is like a kid spotting Snow White beyond the gates of Disneyland. But the down-to-earth chicken heiress and co-owner of Winx still can’t quite believe the hand fate — and her ‘Winxy’ — have dealt her.
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IT’S perfect,” says Debbie Kepitis looking up at the side of an old corner store in Ascot Vale where her wonder mare, Winx, has been immortalised on rusticated brick.
“With Winx, it’s all about her eye, her backside and her heart; and they got all three just right,” she says with a nod at the mural.
“Winx has taught me that one. I like a horse with a kind eye, and when you approach them, they look at you.
“The backside, well, they need power there to be able to force their legs forward and hers is pretty cute,” she giggles.
“She’s got great muscle definition; I’m sure she could rocket if she had to.
“And the heart; well, you’ve got to have the heart to win.”
EXCLUSIVE BOOK EXTRACT FROM WINX: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY
FOLLOW ALL THE ACTION FROM CAULFIELD CUP DAY
A passing car stops in the middle of the road. The driver winds down his window, leans out with his mobile phone and snaps a photo.
“Good luck in the big one,” he yells before continuing on his way down the suburban street.
Just then a ute pulls over across the road. A middle-aged tradie gets out and saunters over. He’s got a horse running in race one at the Turnbull Stakes, he tells Kepitis.
He’s on his way to a job but saw Kepitis and just had to pull over.
You have to understand that for racing fans, seeing Debbie Kepitis outside of a racetrack is like a kid spotting Snow White beyond the gates of Disneyland.
Her glistening purple hair and matching floral racewear make Kepitis’ look as instantly recognisable as the princess’ black bob and cartoon frock. And as these racing enthusiasts know, Kepitis is a character in Australia’s own fairytale.
For those captivated by the Winx journey, the story is simple: she races; she wins. But for her owner, the narrative is a little more complicated, and far closer to her heart.
The daughter of billion-dollar chook farmer and racing heavyweight Bob Ingham, Kepitis’ earliest memories of racing were listening to the scratchings over breakfast.
“I remember Saturday mornings as a kid, and being told to be quiet because Dad was taking the scratchings from the radio — that was the only way you could get them then,” she laughs.
“I wasn’t a pony girl,” she admits. “Growing up on a chicken farm with chooks and cows and pigs, I never handled horses. I was actually a little terrified of them.
“It just wasn’t my scene — I wasn’t outdoorsy — but slowly our participation in racing increased.”
Born into a line of racing royalty, with her father and uncle Jack building Woodlands Stud, one of the country’s most formidable racing and breeding empires, there was no fighting the legacy pumping through her veins.
WIN A SIGNED COPY OF WINX: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY
Even her “first big date” with husband Paul was at the races to watch Kingston Town, a horse who went on to win three Cox Plates in the early ’80s.
Next Saturday, Winx will go for her fourth Cox Plate, having already taken the nation on an enlightened ride of greatness, extending her winning streak to 28 races this month after claiming victory in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington on October 6 in a flashy finish.
“I remember how nervous I was,” says Kepitis, recalling the first dramatic Cox Plate triumph of Winx, who she owns with good friend Peter Tighe and Richard Treweeke.
“Moonee Valley is just a different sense of racetrack; it’s got that cauldron feeling, you feel a part of it,” she says.
“I know how hard it is to win that race and I was a bundle of nerves, I was overawed at the whole prospect of it.
“But we came and had a lovely lunch and just a normal race day and then went down to the mounting yard.
“It was so packed and the buzz was fever pitch and I remember standing there right up against each other and Hughey (jockey Hugh Bowman) came out and you could hardly hear him because you can’t get close enough; I can vividly remember that.
“And then we walked out the front, and it was like, where do we go? Where are we gonna stand? I was so focused and petrified, I didn’t know where anyone else was. My heart was in my mouth, it seemed to go forever.
“Until she passed the post, I was concerned that something would fly down the outside and beat her … and then it was just euphoric.”
There’s a bubbling mischief to Kepitis, and the faint giddiness of a girl who can’t quite believe her luck.
WHEN TO GET YOUR WINX SOUVENIRS IN THE HERALD SUN
You could hardly blame her for a little gross opulence, if she chose to indulge in the glory of the cultural phenomenon; but the chicken heiress is disarmingly down-to-earth.
For starters, not a cent of Winx’s prize money, which is edging ever closer to $20 million, has been spent on Kepitis’ racing attire, which she admits is not travelling quite as well as her champion horse.
“It’s a bit sad,” she says rubbing her hands over the pulls in the skirt which she has worn to almost all of Winx’s races. There’s no denying the purple blooms on her black suit are sartorially wilting, the textured fabric starting to ball and pill.
“I’m lucky it’s gorgeous fabric and lucky I have an amazing dressmaker that made it well; without a good construction it would be in more of a mess,” she says of the ensemble that has become as famous as the royal blue Magic Bloodstock silks worn by Winx.
Kepitis, like many racing people, is superstitious, taking measures to ensure that what has become her own piece of the Winx tapestry is preserved.
“I have a system; I’ve got very good drycleaners, but I still dry-clean the jacket, skirt and top all separately so that if something happens and I lose one, I don’t lose all my comfort.
“It does nothing for the racing — it doesn’t affect the horse at all — it’s just my sanity and it’s become quite quirky. Purple is my racing colour; I’m a bit old for blue hair, but I can still rock purple,” she laughs.
MIGHTY MARE TOO GOOD AT TURNBULL STAKES
And when Winx retires, so too will the purple blooms.
“It has to stay with me — it’s my little part of Winx that I can have forever — but it will be on loan,” she says before asserting that her wardrobe devotion only goes as far as her dress.
“I don’t have to wear the same undies or anything like that,” she laughs.
“As long as I get my hair done and I don’t wear makeup on her race days. I don’t know why, but if you cry, you don’t have anything running anywhere, so it’s quite fortunate that I did start that silliness.
“It’s just quick. I’m not a fancy dancy woman that has to have everything right.”
While Kepitis’ rituals are a way for her to feel in control on days when nerves are bubbling over, she is still a firm believer in the one thing you can’t control: fate.
And she is adamant that becoming a part-owner of the rare horse was a million-to-one destiny she was always tethered to.
“I do believe it was fate,” she says of purchasing the horse at the Magic Millions sale in 2013, subsequently buying a slice of history.
“I would lie if I said I remember seeing Winx for the first time.
“I looked at about 25 horses that year. I’ve got my list from every other year, but I’m really kicking myself, I threw the list away that year. Then Peter (Tighe) had a few on his list, we cross-checked our lists and we ended up with five horses we were looking at.
“Fate is the only way you can believe it. If we could have gotten the budget for the first one on our list, we’d have bought that.”
Despite Winx’s dominant performance, Kepitis admits the nerves tug at her before every race.
“I’m still always concerned that she won’t get to the front horse, or that something will come at her or she’s gonna get hampered.
“There’s always a bit of that; I’m always a bit more pessimistic than optimistic.”
However, if there is one thing Kepitis can be optimistic about, it’s that Winx’s legacy is as sure a bet as you can find in racing.
“I hope that she is held in high regard the way Black Caviar, Makybe Diva and Sunline are, that she brought racing to the public like the other beautiful matriarchs did.
“And I hope that the people that she has brought to racing continue to come, and one day bring their kids, and tell them the reason they got into racing was because they saw Winx race when they were young.
“People that weren’t really paying attention have got caught up into the world of racing because it’s history and you’re living history.”
Kepitis’ other hope is that a new book released on Monday, Winx: The Authorised Biography by the Herald Sun’s Andrew Rule (Allen & Unwin, RRP $44.95), not only becomes a bestseller, but a cultural touchstone of Australian literature.
“I think there would be nothing more sensational than if that was on the year 12 curriculum. There would be no prouder moment than if she is on the reading list; if her story is considered good enough to be a contrast to Pride and Prejudice.”
In a country where not one prime minister has completed a full term in the last decade, where farmers are battling drought and where needles have shown up in strawberries, there’s no denying the consistency of watching Winx gallop down the straight to glory has warmed the cockles of hearts around the nation.
But it’s done even more than that for Kepitis, a grandmother and businesswoman.
“Winx has created a great family feeling.
I’m a very lucky woman who has an amazing husband who will come with me, will work with me, will put up with me and my three beautiful daughters,” she says.
“They are on the ride as well; they know the history they are living because they were all around when Dad and Jack were racing Octagonal and Lonhro, and they know what that means.
“They are my little bodyguards and my handbag holders and to make sure if I’ve got something stuck in my teeth that I take it out. It’s wonderful. You can always rely on family.
“It’s united families, too. My sister and her two boys feel as much a part of it as my girls. My sister says she will send her sons an email about organising something and they take a week or two to get back to her but if she sends them an email saying, ‘Aunty Debbie wants to know do you want to go to the Cox Plate?’ she gets an answer within five minutes,” she laughs.
“Winx has also added to my own self pride. I wear a couple of hats, so I have quite a bit of work on in our family business as well,” she says. “And because I came into that at a late age, I’ve had to learn how to be a businesswoman, which is very difficult.
“And that’s something Winxy has helped me with, because it’s hard going into a room full of men that are businessmen and have been doing that for years, but Winx breaks the ice and gives you that comfort.”
And while Winx is the odds-on favourite, far beyond the bookies for next Saturday’s Cox Plate, it’s obvious Kepitis has already won so much more.
And she describes it like a true fairytale.
“It really is a magic carpet ride.”
WINX, THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY BY ANDREW RULE (ALLEN AND UNWIN), RRP $44.95, OUT MONDAY
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