Wootton bassett

Galileo and Dubawi, two titans of the sport whose fates have been so entwined for the past two decades that the marrying of their superior bloodlines to one day give us a champion sire was perhaps as inevitable as it is satisfying for us bloodstock nuts. On 12 occasions, in 2008 and then every year between 2010 and 2020, Galileo topped the end-of-year sires' table in Britain and Ireland. On four of those occasions Dubawi filled the runner-up spot, before the Darley stalwart finally enjoyed his day in the sun...

Lily Hart (lot 207) came into Arqana's Vente d'Elevage a sought-after prospect; a Listed winner and Group-placed four-year-old filly, by Galileo and in foal to Wootton Bassett. She was, said Haras du Cadran's Pierre Talvard, his number one selection of the sale, and when the hammer fell and she was his at €1.05 million, he was temporarily too moved to speak. "She was my selection of the sale," he said, wiping tears from his face. "I would have done anything for her. She is a daughter of Galileo, winner of...

The multiple Group winner Topgear has been retired from racing and will stand at Capital Stud for the 2026 breeding season. The son of Wootton Bassett will command a fee of €7,500. Topgear was unbeaten in three starts as a juvenile for trainer Fabrice Chappet, culminating with a narrow success in the G3 Prix Eclipse at Chantilly. Transferred to the care of Christopher Head after failing to add to his tally in six starts the following season, the Hisaaki Saito-owned colt then peaked towards the end of his four-year-old campaign...

This year's G1 Prix de la Foret winner Maranoa Charlie has been retired from racing and will stand at Tally-Ho Stud in 2026. Trained by Christopher Head, Maranoa Charlie was beaten just once in four starts as a two-year-old, notably winning the G3 Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud by eight lengths. "I don't think I've ever trained a horse like Maranoa Charlie, one with his desire to run and who can take the others on like that," said Head in the aftermath of that impressive victory. "He gets better with...

For the third time in four years, Sioux Nation was the busiest Flat stallion at stud in Britain and Ireland in 2025, according to the Return of Mares, which has been published by Weatherbys. The son of Scat Daddy, who stands at Coolmore's Castlehyde Stud in County Cork, was usurped last year by his ill-fated stud-mate, Calyx, but he returned to the top of the charts during the latest breeding season, having covered 282 mares. The busiest stallion of any description was Whytemount Stud's Affinisea on 314, ahead of Boardsmill...

Henri Matisse (Wootton Bassett), a top-level winner at both two and three, has been retired from racing and will take up stallion duties at Coolmore Stud in Fethard, Ireland for the 2026 breeding season. A stud fee will be announced in due course. Bred by the Immortal Verse Syndicate, Henri Matisse won his first three starts as a two-year-old at the Curragh, including the G2 Railway Stakes and G2 Futurity Stakes, before filling the runner-up spot behind Scorthy Champ (Mehmas) in the G1 National Stakes at the same venue. After...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-bred horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Saturday's Observations features a full-brother to multiple Group 1 winner and Classic heroine Lake Victoria (Frankel). 4.50 Leopardstown, Mdn, 2yo, c/g, 7f 30yT DRUIDS GLEN (IRE) (Frankel {GB}) is a significant newcomer for Ballydoyle on an intriguing card, being a full-brother to the yard's outstanding Irish 1,000 Guineas, Breeders'...

We should have seen it coming really. Night Of Thunder burst onto the scene in 2019 to be champion first-season sire with seven stakes winners to his name. Not all leading freshmen go on to put themselves into contention for champion sire honours, of course, but six years later this is exactly what the prolific Night Of Thunder has done, and he looks almost certain now to follow the achievement of his own sire Dubawi, who was champion in 2022. Dubawi, who turns 24 in January, took longer to get...

The catalogue for the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale, featuring 401 mares and fillies, is now online. The dams of Group 1 standouts Precise (Starspangledbanner), Porta Fortuna (Caravaggio), Romantic Warrior (Acclamation), Excellent Truth (Cotail Glory) and Lush Lips (Ten Sovereigns) were all sold at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale in the past. In 2025, the sale will be held on November 21-22 immediately following the four-day Goffs November Foal Sale. Some of the 2025 catalogue highlights include: Ceistiu (Vocalised) (lot 1183), the dam of the highly regarded G3 Gordon...

Group 1-winning juvenile and Classic hero Camille Pissarro will stand at Coolmore Stud in Fethard, Ireland for the 2026 breeding season, following in the footsteps of his late sire, Wootton Bassett. Bred by James Cloney, Camille Pissarro was bought by MV Magnier and White Birch Farm for 1,250,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. A half-brother to the G1 Commonwealth Cup-winning sire Golden Horde (Lethal Force), he ran seven times as a two-year-old and saved his best performance for last when emulating Wootton Bassett with his victory...

The catalogue for the Goffs November Foal Sale, which has 998 lots, was released on Friday. Recent past graduates include the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas/G1 St James's Palace Stakes hero Field Of Gold (Kingman), G1 Phoenix Stakes winner Power Blue (Space Blues) and G1 Prix du Cadran winner Caballo De Mar (Phoenix Of Spain). Some of the choicest lots on offer include: lot 553, a son of Gleneagles who is a half-brother to G2 Gimcrack Stakes hero Lifeplan (Kodi Bear); a State Of Rest half-brother (lot 565) to G2 Prix...

Luca and Sara Cumani put the sugar on top of what has been one of the sweetest success stories of the week at Tattersalls when their Fittocks Stud-consigned Wootton Bassett colt sold to Godolphin for 1.9 million gns on the third and final day of the Book 1 October Yearling Sale.  The Wootton Bassett colt became Fittocks Stud's third seven-figure sale this week and followed on from the 2.2 million gns and 1.3 million gns achieved with colts by Frankel and Dubawi respectively.  All told, Fittocks Stud has sold four...