A bounty of beautiful mares for Justify and Wootton Bassett

A month has passed of the new breeding season, and at Jerrys Plains in the Hunter Valley, Coolmore Australia is on full throttle. Its roster boasts 16 stallions this spring, headed by the evergreen Fastnet Rock and whipped in by newcomers King’s Legacy and Wootton Bassett.

In the middle, horses like Pierro, So You Think (NZ) and Pride Of Dubai are kicking local goals, while a battalion of overseas talent fills the books. There’s Churchill (Ire), Magna Grecia (Ire) and Saxon Warrior (Jpn), as well as a pair of Triple Crown winners in American Pharoah (USA) and Justify (USA).

It’s a robust and diverse roster.

The Coolmore stallions represent the very best sirelines around the world. There’s Galileo (Ire) through Adelaide (Ire) and Churchill, and Danehill (USA) through Fastnet Rock and Merchant Navy. Redoute’s Choice is the sire of freshman King’s Legacy, while Magna Grecia and Calyx (GB) (through Kingman (GB)) represent the Invincible Spirit (Ire) line.

Saxon Warrior is back for his third Australian season, a son of the mighty Deep Impact (Jpn), while Yes Yes Yes, with first foals arriving this season, is a grandson of Encosta De Lago.

However, a great swell of attention has been directed at two particular stallions at Coolmore this spring – Justify, who represents the Scat Daddy (USA) line and returns for his third Australian season, and headliner Wootton Bassett, a son of Iffraaj (GB), who is serving his first shuttle season after his purchase by Coolmore in August last year.

Justify this

The hard facts about American Triple Crown winner Justify are impressive.

Through six short months in 2018, the chestnut horse blazed through six career wins in 112 days, ‘a feat of precocity unmatched in the sport’s history’, according to Sports Illustrated.

Justify won his first three races at Santa Anita, among those the G1 Santa Anita Derby, and he then picked off the Triple Crown with incredible arrogance. His six lifetime starts were won by nearly 24 lengths collectively, and over distances from 1400 metres to the Belmont’s stiff mile-and-a-half.

When Justify retired, he was the only undefeated Triple Crown winner in history.

“He is one of the all-time greats on the track, and he’s a wonderful outcross for all major bloodlines in Australia,” said John Kennedy, Coolmore Australia’s stud manager. “It’s great to have him available to local breeders.”

At nearly 17hh, Justify is an arresting son of the late Scat Daddy, who passed away suddenly at Ashford Stud in the American winter of 2014.

“He’s the best son of Scat Daddy, who’s been an incredible speed influence on all surfaces,” Kennedy said. “This year we’ve seen Caravaggio make a brilliant start to his career at stud, siring his first Group 1 winner last weekend.”

That winner was the filly Tenebrism (USA), who won the G1 Cheveley Park S. at Newmarket, and among Scat Daddy’s other notable sire sons is Coolmore stablemate No Nay Never (USA).

“Justify himself is an unbelievably powerful horse who was identified by Henry Field as a yearling because he resembled a Golden Slipper-type horse,” Kennedy said. “His immense strength is being put into his foals in spades, and once again we’ve been blown away by the quality of his foals this season.”

Million-dollar mares for Justify

Justify covered 149 mares in his debut season in Australia, and 142 last year. He is standing in the Hunter Valley for $55,000 (inc GST), which is incredible value on his Northern Hemisphere fee of US$125,000 (AU$215,000).

“Those breeders supporting him this season will benefit from the unbelievable books of mares that he has covered in his first two seasons,” Kennedy said. “Never before has a stallion been supported with waves of top-class mares like he has, and we’ll support him once again this season.”

Justify’s 2021 book at Jerry’s Plains has included the lovely Nechita (Fastnet Rock) who, in 2012, won the G1 Coolmore Stud S. and G3 Silver Shadow S.

Nechita was purchased by Tom Magnier for $1.55 million at the 2013 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, and she was spirited to Ireland where she produced a number of foals by Galileo. She returned in foal to Frankel (GB) in December, and dropped a colt by that stallion in early September.

Nechita has already produced the G3 Premier’s Cup winner Harpo Marx (Ire), who was purchased from Ballydoyle by Hubie de Burgh and Darby Racing for 60,000 gns (AU$120,000) at the 2019 Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale.

Justify has equally attracted several other important producing dams at Coolmore.

Estelle Collection (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}) will go to him as the dam of five-time Group 1 winner Lankan Rupee (Redoute’s Choice). She was bought by Coolmore in 2014 as part of the Teeley Assets Dispersal at Magic Millions, costing $1.4 million.

Maastricht (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), purchased for $2.25 million at the Inglis Chairman's Sale in 2019, is also headed to Justify, the dam of dual Group 1 winner Loving Gaby (I Am Invincible), as is Marianne (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}), the Listed-winning dam of G2 Tulloch S. winner Yaletown (Vancouver).

Some of these are repeat business for Justify, and G1 New Zealand S. winner The Party Stand (NZ) (Thorn Park) is another example of this.

She will have visited Justify for the last three seasons, and her booking to the horse this year is based on her 2020 yearling headed to Magic Millions in January, which Kennedy said was outstanding.

Justify will also serve the triple Group 2-winning mare Fix (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB}), who also arrived home in December from a number of years spent in Ireland. Fix was another costly purchase for Tom Magnier in 2015, bought from the Newhaven Park draft for $1.25 million at the Magic Millions National Sale.

Humble beginnings

A lot has been written about Wootton Bassett since his arrival to the Coolmore banner last year. If there’s a rags to riches tale in elite bloodstock, this is likely it.

Wootton Bassett was purchased from the French stud, Haras d’Etreham, where he’d begun sire duties in 2012.

His debut fee was a humble €6000 (AU$10,000) and, out of that first crop of just 17 foals, he sired the brilliant Almanzor (Fr), a winner of the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 British Champion S. and G1 Irish Champion S.

Almanzor is now a shuttle stallion between Haras d’Etreham and Cambridge Stud in New Zealand.

All up, Wootton Bassett stood for nine seasons in France before moving to Ireland. His first three crops numbered no more than 50 apiece, but from them came Group 1 winners Patascoy (Fr) and Wootton (Fr).

There was no doubt there was something unique about this sire, who has got 25 stakes winners to date.

“Wootton Bassett is a special horse,” Kennedy said. “He is the most magnificent animal to look at with an unbelievable temperament, and he’s been inundated with support from leading breeders since it was announced that he would shuttle.”

Kennedy said the support that Almanzor had received from buyers at the sales this year augured well for Wootton Bassett. This kicked off at Magic Millions in January, when a New Zealand-bred Almanzor colt from the Sebring mare Lazumba sold at the Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $800,000.

“This year’s crop of European juveniles were conceived at €20,000 (AU$32,000), while Wootton Bassett covered a full book of mares at €100,000 (AU$162,000) in Ireland this season,” Kennedy said. “Among them were the Group 1 winners Awesome Maria, Deirdre, Found, Peeping Fawn and The Fugue.”

Kennedy said the stallion can do no wrong at the moment with his current 2-year-olds in Europe.

“He is only going to continue to enhance his record as a stallion as the progeny of the better mares get to the track,” he said. “I’m sure those who breed to him this season will be following his progress in Europe with great interest.”

Valuable stock for Wootton

Coolmore has lined up a powerful book of mares for debuting shuttler Wootton Bassett.

One of the best on the list is Qafila (Not A Single Doubt), who won the G1 South Australian Derby and G2 Angus Armanasco S.

Qafila is relatively new to the covering shed, retired at the end of 2019 and served by Dundeel (NZ) in her maiden year. She was carrying to that stallion when she was sold in May at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, a $2 million purchase for Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock. She topped the Shadwell Stud dispersal draft.

Her Dundeel foal, a filly, was born on August 15.

Gallery: Some of the mares to be covered by Wootton Bassett (GB) this season

Joining Qafila in the line for Wootton Bassett are the multi-million-dollar mares Sunlight (Zoustar), Champagne Cuddles (Not A Single Doubt), Celebrity Queen (Redoute’s Choice) and Avantage (Fastnet Rock).

Between them, these four mares represent close to $12.8 million in bloodstock buying.

Sunlight was bought by Coolmore from the Widden Stud draft for $4.2 million at the Magic Millions National Sale in 2020, while Champagne Cuddles came from the same Sale, this time from Turangga Farm for $2 million.

Celebrity Queen cost $2.5 million when bought by Magnier from Holbrook Thoroughbreds at this year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale, and Avantage made headlines last week when selling to Coolmore on Gavelhouse Plus for NZ$4.1 million.

Both Sunlight and Champagne Cuddles visited Justify last year, the former foaling a colt to the stallion on September 16, while the latter also foaled a colt on August 22.

Wootton Bassett will receive the Group 2 winner Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}), who is already the dam of Group 3 winner Ennis Hill (Fastnet Rock) and her full sister, Listed winner Lake Geneva, and full brother Acrobat.

In addition, the stallion will see the stakes-placed full sister to Woodside Park sire Foxwedge, Paulownia (Fastnet Rock), and the full sister to last weekend’s Listed Jim Maloney S. winner Queen Of Dubai.

“Wootton Bassett is a complete outcross to Danehill, but he’s also a very versatile stallion in that he seems to work with all types of mares,” Kennedy said. “His 25 stakes winners to date are out of mares by 23 different broodmare sires from a wide range of bloodlines.”

That is a remarkable feature of the stallion all by itself and, if popularity is anything to go by, Wootton Bassett will be hotly watched in both hemispheres.

Invincible foals

While so much of the breeding season is taken up with the business of stallions, most farms pay good attention to arriving foals.

At Coolmore this spring, progeny by Magna Grecia and Calyx, both representing the Invincible Spirit sireline, have impressed their audiences.

“Magna Grecia is obviously a mouth-watering stallion prospect,” Kennedy said. “He was a Group 1 winner at both two and three, and a half-brother to the highest-rated horse in the world right now, five-time Group 1 winner St Mark’s Basilica.”

Kennedy said Magna Grecia was a good-looking horse himself, and he’d stamped his foals in the same mould. In particular, the stud manager identified a colt out of the Encosta De Lago mare Sucker Punch, a daughter of the G1 Golden Slipper winner Merlene (Danehill {USA}).

Of Calyx, Kennedy said he was a horse that Coolmore had long believed to have the ideal profile for Australian racing.

“A fast and precocious son of Kingman from an outstanding Juddmonte family, Calyx was rated higher at three than any 3-year-old in Australia last season,” he said.

Kennedy said Calyx has had a fair bit of repeat business this season, which was testament to the quality of any stallion’s first foals. He identified the grey mare Grisaille (Helmet) in this category, a half-sister to the Group 3 winner Seaside (Redoute’s Choice), as well as Lead Husson (Husson {Arg}).

“Judging by the make and shape of his first foals, we feel that breeding to Calyx in his second season could prove to be very shrewd,” Kennedy said.

The stallion is standing this Australian season at $13,750 (inc GST), while Magna Grecia is standing his second Australian season at $19,250 (inc GST).

Table: Some of Coolmore's matings for the 2021 season