Star sire Wootton Bassett dies at age 17 in Australia
Wootton Bassett, one of the world’s great sires, died Friday at Coolmore Australia, having suffered from choke and subsequently developing an acute pneumonia that deteriorated rapidly.
Despite round-the-clock care from a team of vets, overseen by Dr. Nathan Slovis from Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Kentucky, he was unable to be saved.
Great Britain-bred Wootton Bassett was undefeated in five starts as a 2-year-old but 0-for 4 in his remainig starts at age 3.
Wootton Bassett’s story as a sire is a unique one. Nicolas de Chambure of Haras d'Etreham got him off to an incredible start at Haras d’Etreham in France, with early stars that included Almanzor, named the leading three-year-old in Europe with Group 1 stakes victories in 2016.
His third crop included Audarya, winner of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf and two Group 1 stakes in France.
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 2- and 3-year-old crops conceived in Ireland.
These include multiple Group 1-winning sons Camille Pissarro 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 Marble Hill Stakes (G3), is considered by both Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore to be one of the best 2-year-olds ever seen in Ballydoyle. Two more colts, Constitution River and Puerto Rico, have won Group 2 races in recent weeks, and a pair of fillies, Composing and Beautify, both scored at the same level.
Coolmore’s clients have three more crops in the pipeline, the first of which will come under the hammer at the yearling sales in the weeks ahead.
In Australia, his first crop is highlighted by this year’s Golden Slipper runner-up and first colt home Wodeton, who lines up in the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes this weekend for Chris Waller.