Cover image courtesy of Horse Racing Ireland
Widden Stud and Haras d’Etreham have purchased triple Group 1 winner Hotazhell (GB) to stand at stud in France and Australia in 2027. The winner of last Saturday's G1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes by a nose, Hotazhell will run in the G1 Champions Stakes at Ascot before retirement.
“We are delighted to have been able to acquire Hotazhell jointly with Nicolas de Chambure’s Haras d’Etreham. He is a horse we have followed closely and genuinely believe is ideally suited to the Australian market,” Antony Thompson said.
A joint venture to acquire the world’s hottest sire line
Hotazhell is one of eight Group 1 winners globally for Too Darn Hot (GB), whose first crop are only 5-year-olds in the Southern Hemisphere. He’s been a sensation here with Group 1 winners Broadsiding and Tropicus already retired to stud and popular.
“The profile of the Too Darn Hot’s continues to grow. You see the support that Broadsiding and now Tropicus has, both with big books for this season,” Widden Stud’s Matt Comerford told TTR.
Too Darn Hot has 38 stakes winners globally with over 330 winners and he’s only just getting started. Hotazhell and Too Darn Hot are from the Dubawi (Ire) sireline, which has boomed recently thanks to Ghaiyyath (Ire), and will have stallions Benbatl (GB), Delacroix (Ire), Henry Longfellow (Ire), and Lead Artist (GB) joining Ghaiyyath on this year’s roster across Australia.
The deal is about more than grabbing a triple Group 1 winner for Widden. It’s about building an ongoing partnership with a farm that has plenty of parallels to Widden.
Hotazhell | Image courtesy of Horse Racing Ireland
“It is also a great pleasure to be partners with a farm of Haras d’Etreham’s standing. Like Widden, they are a generational family operation with similar values to our own. Thanks to Matt Houldsworth, who assisted in putting this together,” Thompson said.
The French side of the equation were equally as excited by the joint venture.
“We are absolutely delighted at the prospect of welcoming a horse of Hotazhell’s calibre to Etreham for the 2027 season. The partnership with Widden Stud came about naturally, and we are delighted to be working with Antony and his team, who are a leading force in Australia and with whom we share the same vision,” Nicolas de Chambure of Haras d’Etreham said.
“The partnership with Widden Stud came about naturally, and we are delighted to be working with Antony and his team, who are a leading force in Australia and with whom we share the same vision.” Nicolas de Chambure
A few shares available
Breeders who want a piece of Hotazhell will have to get in quickly with a few shares available in him.
“We are excited to have secured an elite sire whose bloodlines, race profile and physical attributes will work in Australia. Being able to purchase 50% of a horse with such international appeal is very rare for Australian farms and we are excited to be able to offer a limited number of shares to our Australian clients that will lay the foundation for his success both here and in France,” Thompson said.
Comerford expanded on the acquisition, saying that the few shares available won’t last long.
Matt Comerford | Image courtesy of Inglis
“Those really good European horses such as Too Darn Hot and Harry Angel, Delacroix, St Mark’s Basilica, breeders effectively can't buy into them. These shares are a great opportunity for Australian breeders to buy into a horse of this calibre,” Comerford said.
“Widden owning half of Hotazhell shows our commitment to him coming to Australia continuously.”
“Widden owning half of Hotazhell shows our commitment to him coming to Australia continuously.” - Matt Comerford
A juvenile Group 1 winner who trained on
With the Australian market beginning to lose its absolute laser focus on the juvenile market and moving towards horses who can train on and claim the many big prizemoney options at four and beyond, a stallion like Hotazhell demonstrates both qualities.
Juvenile racing will always be important in the commercial marketplace, and a horse being able to race early shows good education, a decent temperament and scientifically, lends itself to longevity.
Trained by Jessica Harrington, Hotazhell opened his account as a May juvenile with a fourth placing. He then won four of his six starts at two including the G1 Futurity Trophy, beating Coolmore shuttle sire Delacroix.
Jessica Harrington | Image courtesy of Horse Racing Ireland
At three, he was next seen finishing third in the 2025 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas to Field Of Gold (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). He was compromised by the run of the race in both the G1 Eclipse Stakes, when fifth, and the G1 Saratoga Derby when fourth, before trailing Delacroix when fourth in the G1 Irish Champion Stakes and finishing off his Classic season with an unplaced run in the Arc.
“Hotazhell has been a joy to train. He’s tough, sound and consistent, and following his win in the Irish Champion Stakes, he has proven what we have always known – he is a brilliant racehorse.” Harrington said.
“Hotazhell has been a joy to train. He’s tough, sound and consistent, and following his win in the Irish Champion Stakes, he has proven what we have always known – he is a brilliant racehorse.” - Jessica Harrington
This season at four, he placed twice in stakes company before heading to Germany where he won Munich's G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis in July. Saturday’s G1 Irish Champion Stakes victory made it a trio of Group 1 wins for his career, and provided some redemption for his fourth in this race at three last season.
“He has an outstanding racing profile, having been a Group 1 winner at two in Great Britain before going on to win the Irish Champion Stakes last weekend, one of Europe’s great weight-for-age races, and easily comparable in significance to Australia’s Cox Plate. When you combine that level of performance with his pedigree and physical attributes, we feel he has all the qualities to become a significant stallion in Australia,” Thompson said.
Antony Thompson | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Of his 15 starts to date, Hotazhell has won six with earnings of £154,476, €1,091,400, US$45,000, which adds to over AU$2.1 million.
“He is a serious animal in his own right and hopefully with more to come. He’s a good looking style of horse that's got a great hind quarter to him and looks sharp. He's got a heart of a lion, this horse, honestly,” Comerford said.
“He’s travelled and he’s had 15 starts, which is a higher number for a European entire and he’s nine times in the top 3 and another 3 placings. He just keeps turning up. He's the epitome of a racehorse that you would want to own because he just never turns in a bad run.”
Depth of pedigree adds more
It’s not all about his sire line with Hotazhell bringing a strong line up of broodmare sires, being Danehill Dancer (Ire), Sadler’s Wells (USA), Darshaan (Ire), and Lyphard (USA).
“His pedigree and racing record are of the very highest standard, and his conformation is impeccable. He has great presence and quality, and plenty of size and scope. He really ticks all the boxes,” Nicolas de Chambure added.
“His pedigree and racing record are of the very highest standard, and his conformation is impeccable. He has great presence and quality, and plenty of size and scope. He really ticks all the boxes.” - Nicolas de Chambure
Hotazhell | Image courtesy of Horse Racing Ireland
This is the family of five-time Group 1 winner Alexander Goldrun (Ire) (Gold Away {Ire}) who travelled to Hong Kong and added the G1 Hong Kong Gold Cup to her European accomplishments. Fastnet Rock’s Listed CS Hayes Memorial Cup victor Mantastic also features in this family.
“He's out of a Danehill Dancer mare, which is appealing from an Australian perspective and the family's got obviously good depth to it,” Comerford said.
Breeders will have to wait twelve months to send him a mare. Whether he wins another Group 1 at his next start or not, he will be worth the wait to access another option for the smoking hot Dubawi and Too Darn Hot sire line.
