Wootton Bassett

The 2024 season was always going to be an important test for Wootton Bassett, with his first crop of Coolmore-sired 2YOs reaching the racecourse. The results have been spectacular, with no fewer than 13 of them becoming black-type winners, including a total of ten Group winners smashing the previous record of seven held jointly by Danehill and Galileo. Another seven have earned black type including Expanded, a close second in the Gr.1 Dewhurst S. only seven days after his winning debut at the Curragh.

The 2YO Group winners were headed by Twain, who landed the Gr.1 Criterium International just eight days after bolting up by six lengths in a 7f Leopardstown maiden, Camille Pissarro who came with a sweeping run down the outside to land the Gr.1 Jean-Luc Lagardere, Tennessee Stud who took the Gr.1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud and Henri Matisse who finished the season in style when winning the Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Wootton Bassett’s prowess as a sire of 2YOs is hardly surprising, given he went unbeaten in five starts at two himself, culminating in the Gr.1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere which earned him the title of Champion 2YO in France. He has long been known for his versatility as a sire with his earlier Group 1 winners conceived in France ranging from Wooded, winner of the Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbaye over 5f, to middle-distance stars like Almanzor, King Of Steel and Al Riffa.

Wootton Bassett’s ability to work with a wide variety of bloodlines is highlighted by the fact that his first 55 black-type winners have 43 different broodmare sires!