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Will the retired sprint star be put through the sale ring?

The news of Imperatriz's surprise retirement poses the question; what happens next with the superstar sprinter?

The five-year-old is a mare that any breeder would love to have in their paddock, a 10-time Group 1 winner who could be crowned Australian Champion Racehorse before the year is out.

But that is not the style of Te Akau Racing, who raced the daughter of I Am Invincible and Shamardal mare Berimbau after purchasing her for $360,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Te Akau has a proven recent history of selling its elite-level mares.

It used Gavelhouse to sell their nine-time Group 1-winning daughter of Fastnet Rock, Avantage, to Coolmore's Tom Magnier for $4.1m.

It has also seen an even more prolific Group 1 winner, 14-time elite-level champion Melody Belle, who David Ellis purchased for Fortuna Racing, sell to Yulong for $2.6 million through Magic Millions.

It is not hard to mount a case to suggest Imperatriz, who is by the Australian Champion Stallion of the past two seasons who is hurtling towards a third-straight title, would have more appeal than each of those.

That would give Te Akau Racing reason to believe, with the market as it is, she could top the Australian broodmare record of $5 million, which was paid for Milanova in 2008.

That will ensure there is strong courting by not only Magic Millions, who has the National Sale on the Gold Coast in late May, online operator Gavelhouse and New Zealand Bloodstock, but also Inglis, who has the prestigious Chairman's Sale on May 9.

No matter what happens, even though her racing career is now over, this isn't the last time we'll see Imperatriz commanding headlines this year.