New G3 Winner for Wootton Bassett
Currently in Australia covering a stellar book of mares, Wootton Bassett has had a great year and added another new stakes-winner to his tally at Newbury where Ilaraab (4h Wootton Bassett x Belova, by Soviet Star) took out the Group III St Simon Stakes (1m4f).
Trained by William Haggas, Ilaraab had been mixing his form a little of late but produced his A game for Tom Marquand to score a length win.
Bought for 200,000 guineas from the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Ilaraab runs for Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum and has the overall record of seven wins and two placings from 12 starts.
He is the best of two winners from Belova, a half-sister by Soviet star to Group III winner Census.
Ilarab is the 26th stakes-winner for Wootton Bassett, who stands in Australia this spring at a fee of $71,500.
The champion son of Iffraaj has had 12 stakes-winners in 2021, two of them new Group I winners in Zellie and Incarville and five of them being juvenile stakes-winners indicating a lot more to come in 2022.
Wootton Bassett runs at 8.5% stakes-winners to runners with the benefit of his bigger and better books of mares only just beginning to kick in.