Cover image courtesy of Coolmore
Wootton Bassett's (GB) rise from humble beginnings to becoming a top-tier sire is a true rags-to-riches story. With his European fee now reaching €200,000 for the first time in his 14-year stud career, breeders anticipate another increase in his Australian fee as he enters his fourth-season down under.
Despite limited opportunities, Wootton Bassett has sired 42 worldwide stakes winners, achieving a remarkable near nine per cent stakes winners to runners.
A dominant 2-year-old himself, Wootton Bassett is proving to be a versatile sire having boasted 22 individual 2-year-old stakes winners, 20 individual 3-year-old stakes winners and 10 stakes winning 4-year-olds. His Australian-bred progeny are now yearlings, and he is represented by nine imported runners in Australia, including the G3 Sky High S. winner Protagonist (Fr).
• Wootton Bassett boasts almost nine per cent stakes winners to runners worldwide.
• He sired 22 individual stakes winning 2-year-olds at a rate of almost 7 per cent.
• His early stud performance mirrors that of former and current leading Australian sires I Am Invincible, Not A Single Doubt and Encosta De Lago.
| 2013 | 23 | 21 | 2 | 10% | € 6,000 |
| 2014 | 18 | 17 | 0 | 0% | € 5,000 |
| 2015 | 45 | 35 | 1 | 3% | € 4,000 |
| 2016 | 47 | 40 | 3 | 8% | € 4,000 |
| 2017 | 91 | 78 | 13 | 17% | € 6,000 |
| 2018 | 88 | 71 | 3 | 4% | € 20,000 |
| 2019 | 98 | 81 | 6 | 7% | € 20,000 |
| 2020 | 82 | 61 | 5 | 8% | € 40,000 |
| 2021 | 131 | 86 | 9 | 10% | € 40,000 |
| 2022 | 186 | 6 | 0 | 0% | € 100,000 |
| Totals | 809 | 496 | 42 | 8% |
Table: Wootton Bassett's performance per crop
Wootton Bassett began his stud career at Haras d'Etreham in France after his 3-year-old season. Initially covering just 47 mares at a bargain price of €6,000 (AU$9,300), the son of Iffraaj was relatively unwanted early on in his new career.
His first crop consisted of 23 foals, 15 of which became winners, including two stakes winners. The standout was Almanzor (Fr), a G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 Champion S., and G1 Irish Champion S. winner, and European champion 3-year-old. He now stands at Cambridge Stud, proving to be a formidable sire himself with 17 stakes winners globally, including recent G1 Sydney Cup winner Circle Of Fire (UK) and G1 Victoria Derby winner Manzoice.
Over the next three years, Wootton Bassett continued to produce high-quality horses from small books, including G1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Audarya (Fr), black-type winners Amilcar (Ire) and The Black Album (Fr), and G3 Prix Fontainebleau victor Wootton (Fr).
Wootton Bassett | Standing at Coolmore
By his fifth season, breeders really had to take notice.
Off a €6,000 fee (AU$9,300), his largest cohort of 92 foals produced 14 stakes horses, an impressive 15 per stakes horses to foals rate. Notable progeny included G1 Prix de l’Abbaye victor and current Swettenham Stud shuttle sire Wooded (Ire), dual Classic runner-up The Summit (Fr), G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches runner-up Speak Of The Devil (Fr), and US Graded winners Guildsman (Fr) and Tamahere (Fr).
Wootton Bassett’s fee rose to €20,000 (AU$32,500) for his sixth season, remaining steady for two years before doubling to €40,000 (AU$65,500) for 2019 and 2020. Progeny from these fees include four individual Group 1 winners including G1 Phoenix S. winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) who returned a winner in the G3 Lacken Stakes at Naas over the weekend, G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf S. winner Unquestionable (Fr), G1 National S. victor Al Riffa (Fr), and G1 Champion S. winner King Of Steel (USA).
Coolmore acquired Wootton Bassett following the 2020 breeding season, quickly raising his fee to €100,000 (AU$165,000) in 2021. That year, he produced his largest crop of 186 foals which are set to debut this year.
| Wootton Bassett | 809 | 496 | 42 | 8% | $9,750 |
| I Am Invincible | 1287 | 1109 | 106 | 10% | $11,000 |
| Encosta De Lago | 1295 | 1067 | 88 | 8% | $8,500 |
| Written Tycoon | 1062 | 848 | 46 | 5% | $8,250 |
| Not A Single Doubt | 909 | 797 | 64 | 8% | $13,750 |
Table: Wootton Bassett's performance against comparable stallions
Compared to Australian sires like I Am Invincible and Encosta De Lago, who commenced their careers off modest opportunities and later commanded high fees, Wootton Bassett’s rise looks set to continue.
At the same point in their careers - albeit in different hemispheres, Encosta De Lago and Not A Single Doubt each boasted the same stakes winning strike rate as Wootton Bassett. While the data is relative, opportunities are imperative in this numbers driven game so for him to be performing at a similar level to such champions, from almost half the opportunities, is remarkable.
| 2023 | 131 | - | $93,500 |
| 2022 | 169 | 104 | $71,500 |
| 2021 | 190 | 127 | $71,500 |
Table: Wootton Bassett’s fertility statistics in Australia.
While his Australian-born progeny, now yearlings, still need to prove themselves on the track, Wootton Bassett isn't the typical shuttle sire.
Popular in his initial seasons at Coolmore’s Jerrys Plains base, Wootton Bassett covered books of 190, 169, and 131 mares in his first three Southern Hemisphere seasons, with an exceptional depth of quality - reflected in the prices of his first yearlings, commanding a strong average price of over $370,000. This included three million-dollar yearlings, indicating that Australian investors have been paying close attention to his remarkable achievements in the Northern Hemisphere.
