older stallions Wootton Bassett was an expensive purchase for Coolmore, but the investment already looks to be paying off
THE BIG GAMBLE
Coolmore’s 2020 investment and purchase of promising sire Wootton Bassett looks as though it is already paying dividends, writes Jocelyn de Moubray
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F COOLMORE’S PURCHASE OF WOOTTON BASSETT looked like a bold move a year ago, it has since been revealed a shrewd investment for the future. Not only did Wootton Bassett cover 244 mares at fee of €100,000 in his first season based at the Irish stud, but, even before the end of the covering season, the good racecourse results of his progeny had added further to the considerable
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momentum already behind the horse. Wootton Bassett has achieved exceptional results since retiring to stud at the Haras d’Etreham at a fee of only €5,000. His first two-year-olds hit the racecourse in 2015 and, even though Almanzor had looked promising at two, it was not until the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained colt’s brilliant three-year-old career in 2016 that Wootton Bassett started to attract more, and better, mares. What is remarkable about his record
is that neither the rise in fee – though his two-year-olds of 2021 were conceived at a fee of still just €20,000 – nor the size of each year’s book – the number of foals a year has gone from 15 in his first crop to an average of 80 over the last three years – has changed his consistently excellent results. Right from the beginning, around four per cent of Wootton Bassett’s foals have achieved a rating of 110 or higher and 12 per cent a rating of 95 or higher.
