Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Kepitis, along with the rest of the ownership group, enjoyed an amazing ride with Winx, who would go on to win a world record 25 Group 1 races, an achievement which laid its first marker with her fast-finishing 3.5l win at Doomben, where the Queensland Oaks was held in 2015.
Easifar doesn't compare to Winx on ability - arguably no filly could - but there are similarities between their profile in terms of reaching maturity in the Queensland sun, something for which their trainer, Chris Waller, has become renowned.
Winx had her 12th start in the Oaks, while Saturday's assignment will be the 11th time Easifar has been to the races.
"The race has been on her radar for some time, but when she didn't perform that well in the Adrian Knox in Sydney, we weren't too sure if she was up to the distance," Kepitis told TDN AusNZ.
"But Chris, in his true fashion, has kept her going. He has done that with several other horses we have had. As he says, they are only three once and they only get to compete against their own age group once. He feels she will get the distance."
"As he (Chris Waller) says, they are only three once and they only get to compete against their own age group once. He feels she will get the distance." - Debbie Kepitis
Easifar was given time before hitting the track early in her 3-year-old season, breaking her maiden at her third start with an all-the-way win at Randwick in November. She won well on her return on the Kensington track in March and at her third run in, was tested at stakes company for the first time in the G3 Adrian Knox S., which she found beyond her at that stage.
Waller then switched Easifar back to 1600 metres of the Listed Princess S. at Doomben in late April which proved a masterstroke as she proved too good for her rivals. She has sat on the pace and finished close-up at her subsequent two starts in the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet and the G2 The Roses.
"She just hasn't drawn a barrier in her past couple of races. Everybody has those runs of bad barriers, but she has come through well up there. I think it's maturity. She wasn't quite ready in Sydney and it just takes time," Kepitis said.
Making an impression
Kepitis recalls the impression the daughter of Pride Of Dubai made on her when she, husband Paul and her daughters Alinta, Lara and Talia first saw her at the 2019 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
"She had a great shape. She wasn't overly big, but she had a nice presence. Guy Mulcaster, who is our bloodstock agent, he does all our preliminary work for us, and so we get to look at a handful. That was the first year my daughters came around with us up on the Gold Coast," she said.
Debbie Kepitis and Winx | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
"She stood out to them as well. We like the farm she was off too. Wentwood Grange from New Zealand have done magic work on the track. You see their progeny as proper racehorses. You don’t ever go to the sales thinking you will buy a Group 1 winner. You go there to buy a racehorse and they produce racehorses.
"She just showed everything we wanted that year and she was by a new stallion and so it was something different."
"She (Easifar) just showed everything we wanted that year and she was by a new stallion and so it was something different." - Debbie Kepitis
She cost Kepitis' Woppitt Bloodstock $220,000, $10,000 less than her illustrious stablemate famously sold for through the same ring to Magic Bloodstock six years prior.
Bred for an Oaks
From a pedigree perspective, Easifar always looked like she would stay. Her dam, Storm Fronts (Hurricane Sky) also produced a multiple South African stakes winner, Readytogorightnow (More Than Ready {USA}), and was a half-sister to the dam of Queensland Oaks winner Miss Danehill (Danehill {USA}).
Easifar's fourth dam, Denise's Joy (Seventh Hussar {Fr}) also won the Queensland Oaks (in 1976), as did her daughter Joie Denise (Danehill {USA}) (in 1995), while Australian Oaks winner Sunday Joy (Sunday Silence {USA}) also features on the pedigree page.
Easifar as a yearling
That pedigree gives Kepitis plenty of faith that the 2200 metres of Saturday should prove no problem for her filly.
"That's what Guy (Mulcaster) told me a couple of weeks ago. He said, hopefully, she gets to the Oaks fit and well and he was positive she'd run it. Guy always said similar things about Kukeracha, who came out and won the Queensland Derby," she said.
"You are very hopeful. I'm not under any illusion that she just goes there and wins, but she wouldn't be in there if we didn't think she could compete. We feel that she will do us proud on Saturday and if she could get a third or second that would be good, and a win would be sensational."
There will certainly be plenty of great memories for the Kepitis family on the day, reflecting on the history which was made by Winx six years ago.
"That was a pretty exciting time. That was only the third Group 1 we had won at that stage since we had been out of Woodlands. I remember that day quite well. It was an amazing day," she said.
Woppitt's ongoing influence
Woppitt Bloodstock's purple, white and black colours have become a regular fixture in Australian racing over the past decade or so and there are around 15 horses currently in work under its banner.
Its most recent addition is a yearling filly by Not A Single Doubt which cost $420,000 from the Vinery Stud draft at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
"The guys at Vinery have worked so much with her. She's an absolute gem. The breaker, Tim Boland, says she just does everything right. She is such a privilege to have. You watch her videos and she just looks bombproof at the moment, so they have done an amazing job," Kepitis said.
Not A Single Doubt x Downtown Manhattan (filly)
Kepitis, the daughter of legendary breeder Bob Ingham, also has a small band of broodmares based at Coolmore at Jerrys Plains.
"We only ever keep a handful of broodmares and we run it as a business, so there are set criteria there. You are always trying to improve your broodmare band, so if we have a racehorse that fits well for us, she’ll go straight through and we’ll move out one from the bottom," she said.
"You are always trying to improve your broodmare band, so if we have a racehorse that fits well for us, she’ll go straight through and we’ll move out one from the bottom." - Debbie Kepitis
"The girls are playing a role in that and they are enjoying that."
While she and her family are based in Sydney, it has been 13 years since her father sold Woodlands Stud and Kepitis still shares a strong connection with the Hunter Valley.
"We have a great relationship with Coolmore, and that's wonderful, because they are right next to Woodlands. We can go up there and it feels like it is part of us," she said.
"We did really miss Woodlands when Dad sold the stud. It’s lovely to be able to have that connection up there."
