Vale Wootton Bassett (2008-2025)

Cover image courtesy of Coolmore

It was announced on Tuesday that Wootton Bassett (GB), Coolmore Stud’s sire phenomenon, had passed away due to developing an acute pneumonia after suffering choke, from which he could not be saved. The Northern Hemisphere 17-year-old had recently returned to Australia to stand his fifth season at Coolmore’s Jerry’s Plains.

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The sire of 71 stakes winners to date, including 16 Group 1 winners, Wootton Bassett’s first Southern Hemisphere crop have just turned three, and include the Group 1 performers Wodeton and State Visit.

In a statement on X , Coolmore Australia said, “Wootton Bassett, one of the world's great sires, has sadly passed away today at Coolmore Australia having suffered from choke and subsequently developing an acute pneumonia which deteriorated rapidly.

“Despite round-the-clock care from a dedicated team of vets, overseen by Dr Nathan Slovis from Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Kentucky, he was unable to be saved.

“Wootton Bassett's story as a sire is a unique one. Nicolas de Chambure got him off to an incredible start at Haras d'Etreham in France before he was acquired by Coolmore in 2020.

“In his time at Coolmore, he developed into a world-class sire, with 25 stakes winners and six Group 1 winners from his current two and 3-year-old crops conceived in Ireland. Included amongst these are multiple Group 1-winning sons Camille Pissaro and Henri Matisse as well as this season's multiple Group 1-winning filly, Whirl.

“His current 2-year-old crop in Europe already includes six Group winners. Albert Einstein, who defeated subsequent Group 1 winner Power Blue in the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes, is considered by both Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore to be one of the best two-year-olds ever seen in Ballydoyle."

When approached for comment, the Coolmore team further thanked the Coolmore Stud teams in both Australia and Ireland for their care and dedication to the stallion in his five years at the operation.

From humble beginnings

Bred by Laundry Cottage Stud Farm and sold for £46,000 ($94,000) at the Doncaster St Leger Yearling Sales, the son of Iffraaj’s (GB) career at stud started much more humbly, but there was always glimmers that Wootton Bassett could be more.

Unbeaten at two when trained by Richard Fahey, he was the winner of the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp, a race whose honour roll includes Siyouni (Fr), Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire), and Holy Roman Emperor (Ire). The victory secured him a Champion 2YO Colt title in France and a Timeform rating of 119 - in the same year, the title in the United Kingdom went to Frankel (GB).

After four unplaced runs at three in Group 1 contests, Wootton Bassett began his stud career in 2012 at Nicolas de Chambure’s Haras d’Etreham at the fee of €6000 ($10,700 plus GST), lowering to €4000 ($7160 plus GST) before his first crop hit the track.

That first crop yielded just 23 foals, but among that number was Almanzor (Fr), who captured the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, the G1 Irish Champion Stakes, and the G1 Champion Stakes in his Classic year, and dually booked himself a spot at stud. From just 20 runners, 14 were winners and two struck at stakes level.

Wootton Bassett’s fee would rise to €20,000 ($35,700 plus GST) for his sixth season at stud, and 92 foals would be born in the wake of Almanzor’s achievements. His modest-sized early crops would go on to prove that Almanzor would be no fluke race performance. The following years would produce the likes of Group 1-winning shuttle sire Wooded (Ire), G1 Canterbury Stakes winner Royal Patronage (Fr), G1 Breeders’ Cup Fillies & Mares Turf winner Audarya (Fr), and G1 Melbourne Cup favoured Al Riffa (Fr).

It was this continued success - well and truly earning his way to greater and greater books of mares, in the style of I Am Invincible and Written Tycoon in Australia - that attracted the eye of Coolmore in 2020.

His transfer to their County Tipperary location was secured for the 2021 breeding season, where he would stand for €100,000 ($179,000 plus GST). With the passing of Galileo (Ire) in the summer of 2021, it would not be wrong to say that the torch was being passed from one great to the next.

A star rises at Coolmore

Treated to the cream of Coolmore’s broodmare bands in both hemispheres, Wootton Bassett’s success hasn’t slowed down since his arrival in 2021. He stood his first shuttle season the same year at what appears, next to his Northern Hemisphere fee, to be the bargain price of $71,500 (inc GST).

The sireline was already known across Australasia; his son Almanzor had been shuttling to Cambridge Stud since 2018, and in 2022, Wooded would shuttle to Swettenham Stud for the first time and was well received by the Victorian industry, with his debut crop about to hit the track this spring.

Such was Wootton Bassett’s popularity in 2021, his fee in the Northern Hemisphere climbed to €150,000 ($269,000 plus GST), and he would cover over 700 mares in total across his first three Irish books. His first crop of foals born at Coolmore would justify the price increase all the more; Henri Matisse (Ire) travelled to the United States to score in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, before re-emerging as a 3-year-old to win the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains.

The 2024 Champion 2YO Colt in France Camille Pissarro (Ire) was victorious in the very same Group 1 as his sire, and elite filly Whirl (Ire) has captured two Group 1s this year, including the G1 Pretty Polly Stakes. That crop has turned out six Group 1 winners already and a total of 18 stakes winners to date.

A great deal of Wootton Bassett’s success can, at closer inspection, be attributed to how well he combines with Galileo as a broodmare sire; top examples include Whirl and Al Riffa, who both boast him as broodmare sire, and another Group 1 winner from Wootton Bassett’s first Irish crop, Tennessee Stud (Ire), is out of a Sadler’s Wells (USA) mare.

While Wootton Bassett himself was a sprinter in the mould of his father, his offspring have proven incredibly versatile, winning 131 stakes races across 11 countries from 1000 metres to over 2800 metres and recording 141 winners worldwide this year alone.

The desire for his offspring has simply gotten stronger and stronger in the sales ring as well. In the Northern Hemisphere, competition has been fierce for his progeny over the last three years, with a colt selling at the Arqana August Yearling Sale for €2.3 million ($4.1 million) to MV Magnier and White Birch Farm.

Those who were aware of Wootton Bassett’s abilities in the Northern Hemisphere paid on average $369,000 for his first Australian-born crop, with a top price of $2.1 million for his daughter Avantaggia when purchased by David Ellis CNZM (BAFNZ).

The hunger remained strong with his second crop commanding a $345,000 average in the ring, and a son from stakes performer Battleofwinterfell (USA) (Declaration Of War {USA}) commanding $1.7 million in the ring this past sales season to the bid of Dean Hawthorne Bloodstock.

The legacy still to come

Wootton Bassett’s first Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds were fought over at the sales, and while none yet are stakes winners, there were several showing significant promise that propelled him to second spot on the first season sires’ table by earnings and third by winnings.

Chief among his performers is the Chris Waller-trained Wodeton, who accrued over $1 million in prizemoney in his first season on the track and ran second in the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes.

Wodeton wasn’t the sole flagbearer by any means; alongside him is G1 Sires’ Produce Stakes runner-up State Visit, Group performers West Of Swindon, Wiltshire Square, and Gallo Nero, plus stakes performers Wise Inlaw, Yamashita’s Gold, and Pallaton, plus G1 JJ Atkins Plate fourth placegetter Providence.

Such was the performance of that first crop, Wootton Bassett also finished the season in fourth place in the 2-year-old sires’ table, above the previous year’s Champion First Season Sire Too Darn Hot (GB) and with less than $100,000 separating him from multiple Champion Sire I Am Invincible. It is company that he is sure to continue to keep in the coming seasons.

There had been the concern amongst Australasian breeders that Wootton Bassett may prove too valuable to return Down Under in 2025, but their fears were alleviated earlier in the year with the announcement that he would return to Jerry’s Plains at a record fee of $385,000 (inc GST), exceeding the high water mark set by Redoute’s Choice who stood for $330,000 (inc GST) at the height of his powers.

After being crowned Europe's Champion 2YO Sire in 2024, his Northern Hemisphere fee this year had risen to €300,000 ($537,000 plus GST) in recognition of his prowess.

“Wootton Bassett is the hottest stallion in the world at the moment and he is already making an undeniable mark on the breed in Australia,” Tom Magnier said in April, when announcing Wootton Bassett’s return. “We're just excited to have him back again, as we see him as a champion sire of the future in Australia.”

That Champion Sire title may not be a pipe dream still, given what is yet to come from Wootton Bassett’s offspring. There will be 66 yearlings potentially heading to the sales in 2026, and another full crop of foals to be born this spring, whose dams include the likes of Celebrity Queen (Redoute’s Choice), Global Glamour (Star Witness), Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}), and Loving Gaby (I Am Invincible).

Wodeton and State Visit are both engaged to represent their sire this Saturday in the G1 Golden Rose Stakes, and 57 of his juveniles, from a crop of 98 foals, are nominated for the Golden Slipper in the autumn. In Ireland, Al Riffa added another string to his sire's bow when taking home the G1 Irish St Leger less than a fortnight ago.

While his absence will be felt keenly in Jerry's Plains and County Tipperary, Wootton Bassett's torch remains ignited.