Al Shaqab’s Haras de Bouquetot in Normandy will welcome Prix de l’Abbaye hero Wooded to its roster for the 2021 breeding season after the Group 1 winner was retired from racing.
Purchased by the operation for €90,000 from the Haras d’Etreham draft at the Arqana October Yearling Sale in 2018, Wooded is a brother to the winning Beat Le Bon.
Sent into training with Francis Graffard, Wooded got off the mark at the second time of asking before finishing a neck behind Kenway in the Group 3 Prix La Rochette. His final start as a two-year-old last year saw him beaten into third in the Group 3 Prix Thomas Byron.
His campaign at three recorded the perfect start when he was an impressive victor of the Group 3 Prix Texanita before finishing fourth to Pinatubo in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat.
Graddard said: “Wooded stood out from the day he arrived for his good looks and ability and he was very sound, never missing a day’s work.
“In the Group 3 Prix Texanita he announced himself as a potential superstar and we were confident he would go close in the Commonwealth Cup. The difficulties of travelling this year made it impossible for him to run.
“As a racehorse he had so many qualities, class, courage and speed and he fully deserved his Group 1 win this year.”
Al Shaqab’s General Manager Khalifa Al Attiya added: “Wooded has been a very special racehorse to us at Al Shaqab, winning such a prestigious sprint race as the Prix de l’Abbaye at three years old and against much more experienced horses.
“He will now be starting a new exciting career at Haras de Bouquetot, and we feel confident that such a standout sprinter who performed at the highest level with such consistency at two and three will be very well received by the breeders.”
