Vegas Showgirl delivers an Exceed And Excel half-sister to Winx

On the day that Winx secured a 20th consecutive victory in the Group 1 George Main Stakes, the Australian wondermare also welcomed a new arrival to her family, with her dam, Vegas Showgirl, delivering a filly by Darley's seasoned shuttler Exceed And Excel on Saturday morning.

The daughter of Exceed And Excel, who was foaled at Segenhoe Stud in the Hunter Valley, is the seventh foal, and fourth filly, produced by Vegas Showgirl, a Listed-winning daughter of Al Akbar.

"Vegas Showgirl is an absolute queen to look at and ticks every box in terms of quality," Segenhoe Stud's general manager Peter O'Brien told ANZ Bloodstock News. "We were looking at her today in the foaling unit and she just stands out every time you see her. She passes that onto all her foals."

In 2016 Vegas Showgirl produced a filly by champion sire Snitzel who has been retained by her breeders Fairway Thoroughbreds. And in 2014 she produced a colt by the same sire who has since been named Boulder City, having been snapped up by Gai Waterhouse and agent Julian Blaxland for A$2.3 million to top the 2016 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

With Fairway Thoroughbreds now having two fillies out of Vegas Showgirl, O'Brien revealed the outfit may be tempted to look further afield in search of their next exciting covering.

"It's completely open at this stage, but there has been some discussions about possibly sending her to the Northern Hemisphere," he said. "The two horses we would consider for Vegas Showgirl would be Dubawi and Galileo, but we are also considering the obvious stallions in Australia as well.

"She has a Snitzel yearling filly who will be retained, and any other filly she has John [Camilleri of Fairway Thoroughbreds] will also keep."

Should Vegas Showgirl, a two-time Australian Broodmare of The Year, travel to Europe, the plan would be for her to be covered to on Northern Hemisphere time.

"She has had three foals by Snitzel. At the moment we just want to ensure she has a safe foaling experience and then we will make a decision about her future," O'Brien added.

With Winx now having won 24 of her 30 starts, amassing A$13,475,425 (£7,939,065/€9,027,635) in prize-money in the process, and her two-year-old half-brother having topped Australia's most famed yearling sale, the new arrival certainly has big shoes to fill.

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