Wootton Bassett Continues Record-Breaking Season With Group 1 Double

Wootton Bassett reached new heights on Sunday with a juvenile Group 1 double at Saint-Cloud, extending the record he had broken just a few days prior, when Whirl became his eighth Group-winning two-year-old of the season- then the highest number of any European stallion ever in one season.

Tennessee Stud (2c Wootton Bassett – In My Dreams, by Sadler’s Wells) was first to add to Wootton Bassett’s impressive tally when justifying favouritism in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud for Joseph O’Brien, Coolmore partners and Westerberg.

Off the mark on his second start last month, the Ann Marie O’Brien-bred colt progressed to finish second in the Group 2 Beresford Stakes, with the winner going on to win a Group 1 himself.

Joseph O’Brien later reported: “Dylan [Browne McMonagle] gave him a fantastic ride. He said he was really struggling on that ground and never felt comfortable at any stage. It’s testament to his attitude he was able to fight and fight and still win at the line.”

O’Brien went on to say that Tennessee Stud would be even better next year, as was the case with last year’s winner Los Angeles (Camelot). On plans for the winner, O’Brien said: “He'll have a break and will be trained now with the Derby at Epsom being his target. He could run in one or two trial races.”

Joseph O’Brien won last month’s Goffs Million with Apples And Banas (Wootton Bassett), who finished third in Sunday’s Group 1 Criterium International, won by the Aidan O’Brien-trained Twain (2c Wootton Bassett – Wading, by Montjeu).

The win was particularly impressive considering Twain had only debuted eight days prior, winning a Leopardstown maiden by six lengths. Ryan Moore was aboard on his second start, driving the bay out to beat stablemate Mount Kilimanjaro by a length and a quarter.

“Anyone who saw him thought he was special,” O’Brien said of the Coolmore homebred. “We thought the second and third were decent horses and Twain quickened and left them. What he did was different.”

The performance saw Twain shorten into 8/1 with some firms for the 2,000 Guineas and 14/1 for the Epsom Classic.