Wootton Bassett, one of the world’s most popular Sires, died unexpectedly at the age of 17. His premature death while he was announced at Shuttle in Australia on Coolmore’s social media channels on 23 September in a position that stated that the horse was suffering from “acute pneumonia that quickly deteriorated.”
The post continued: “Despite 24 hours a day care of a dedicated team of veterinarians, under the supervision of Dr. Nathan Slovis by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Kentucky, he could not be saved.”
His downfall is a crushing blow to both Coolmore and the wider global blood stock industry, and brings an end to a really remarkable rag to-rich story.
Wootton Bassett was bred by Laundry Cottage Stud Farm when Melba and Colin Bryce sent their Primo Dominie Mare Balladonia to be covered by Darley’s Koldangan Stud Resident Iffraaj in 2007. The foal that arises from those couples was sold to blood stock agent Bobby O’ryan for £ 46,000 at the Doncaster St Army Yearling Sale in 2009.
Wootton Bassett was training with Richard Fahey for owners Frank Brady and the Cosmic Cases and shot with five races through an undefeated youth campaign. His first season in the Training Culminated with a win with a broad Margin in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagarder from 2010 (G1). That turned out to be his last success because he was unable to add to his count in four trips at 3.
In 2012, Wootton Bassett was introduced in Haras d’Etreham. Despite an introductory reimbursement of only € 6,000, French breeders gave the horse a lukewarm reception, with a debut book number that only number 47 mares.
His reimbursement fell to € 5,000 the following year, when he only covered 29 mares, and again up to € 4,000 in years three and four. That unfavorable start for life at the stud gave little indication of what would come.
A debut harvest of 23 foals would be a disaster for most stallions, but a bona fide champion came from that number in the form of Almanzor . He was crowned the leading 3-year-old in Europe after he had passed on the Prix du Jockey Club (G1), Irish Champion Stakes (G1) and the Champion Stakes (G1) of 2016.
Almanzor was not the only star that came from the smaller, early crops of Wootton Bassett, with group 1 artists Patascooy and Wootton who from his third and Audary Winner of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) and Prix Jean Romanet (G1), from his fourth.
While the cent dropped that Wootton Bassett was something completely unusual, the momentum started to build. He dealt with his first book with three digits in 2016, while he was still priced at only € 6,000, and maintained those figures because his reimbursement rose to € 20,000 in 2017 and then € 40,000 in 2019.
Then, in August 2020, came the news that his stallion career would put on a stratospheric process. Coolmore’s decision to buy Wootton Bassett from Haras d’Etreham could not have been cheap, but there was rarely a day when it didn’t look good as a well -spent money.
His reimbursement has more than doubled to € 100,000 for his first season in Ireland, and he was properly flooded with mares. His first Coolmore-Toured Book number 234, and the resulting foals tore up the control book as soon as they reached the racing course.
The first Irish cultivated crop yielded 10 winners of the youth group and surpassed the previous record (seven) held together by Danehill and Galileo.
They include four winners of group 1 to start, namely Camille Pissarro (2024 Jean-Luc Lagarder Price), Henri Matisse (2024 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf), Tennessee Stud (2024 Criterion de Saint-Cloud), and Two (2024 Criterion International).
Those names continued to perform at 3 this season, where Camille Pissarro de Prix du Jockey Club (G1) and Henri Matisse lands who claim the group d’Essai des Poulains (G1). Those results, together with colleague group 1 -scorers At the Riffa ” Simple And Whirl Wootton Bassett has clearly seen more than € 2 million in the title of this year’s European Sires.
At the time of his death, his record is at 127 deployment performers, giving him an impressive black-type horse-to-runners strike speed of 15.7%. Of those 127, 50 beaten in group company, while 16 of these have won at the very first level.
Needless to say, those results were only added to the popularity of Wootton Bassett. His current 2-year-old harvest, bred for a fee of € 150,000, comes from a book of 245 mares. This cohort has already yielded 30 European winners, including people like Albert Einstein, Beautify, Composy, Constitution River and Puerto Rico.
Another member of this crop, the not yet -slipped poker, became the most expensive foal in European sales history when he was purchased by Amo Racing for 4,300,000 GNS at book 1 of last year’s tattersalls in October last year.
While Wootton Bassett stood the last breeding season for a career-high fee of € 300,000, and Weatherbys records show that he had treated 206 mares, including 113 (55%) black-type names.
Wootton Bassett had also started to exert his considerable influence on the world stage, with his debut Australically bred crop with Golden Slipper (G1) Second WodetonHe will shoot for Group 1 Glory in the Golden Rose Stakes this weekend in Rosehill. He would be the southern hemisphere season at a record costs of AU $ 385,000.
In the current campaign, Wootton Bassett also made progress with his son as a father of Sires, Wooded It is on Haras de Bouquetot, who produces the Prix Jean Prat (G1) winner Woodshauna While Almanzor has processed the winner of Prix de Diane (G1) Gem . His other sons at Stud are the winner of Amo Racing’s Champion Stakes Steel It is on Tally-Ho Stud, and Tiber river It is located in Haras de la Henderie in France.
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