The racing world was rocked back in October with the death of Wootton Bassett at the age of 17. Therein ended one of the most remarkable rags-to-riches tales of the modern era, one that ended with an illustrious stud career that encompassed 19 Group 1 winners.
Several of them, namely Camille Pissarro, Hawk Mountain, Henri Matisse, Maranoa Charlie, Puerto Rico, Sahlan and Whirl, hit Group 1 heights during the past season to help pushed their sire past the £10 million barrier by European earnings.
It is the Coolmore-based pair Camille Pissarro and Henri Matisse that lead the charge of Wootton Bassett sons to stud for 2026. Tally-Ho Stud has also bolstered its powerful roster with the addition of Maranoa Charlie while Rathbarry Stud has secured Unquestionable. Group 2 winner Topgear is also new to Capital Stud. As such, there are certainly no shortage of options for breeders to tap into the sire line. Nor could it come at a more opportune moment given that earlier sire sons of Wootton Bassett, namely Almanzor and Wooded, supplied last year’s Group 1 winners Gezora and Woodshauna.
CAMILLE PISSARRO
22 Wootton Bassett – Entreat
Standing at Coolmore for €30,000
No operation will have felt Wootton Bassett’s death more keenly than Coolmore but it does at least have two of his Classiciwinning sons to offer breeders in Camille Pissarro and Henri Matisse.
As far as Camille Pissarro is concerned, the operation hasn’t wasted much time in highlighting the physical similarities between him and his sire. As it is, an indication of his physique can be gleaned by the fact that he sold for 1,250,000gns as a Tattersalls October Book 1 yearling.
He was out early for Aidan O’Brien when successful on debut over 6f at Navan in April the following spring and signed off a busy juvenile campaign by emulating Wootton Bassett in taking the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp.
Having demonstrated plenty of speed at two, notably when second in the Gimcrack Stakes, Camille Pissarro progressed further as he was stretched out in distance at three, which came to the fore through his victory in the Prix du Jockey Club on his penultimate start. A truncated three-year-old season also featured a third behind Henri Matisse in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains.
Camille Pissarro is the latest high-profile runner out of James Cloney’s wonderful producer Entreat, who previously hit Group 1 heights as the dam of Golden Horde. Further back, it is the family of American champion Serena’s Song, which was also showcased to good effect via another branch this year through Field Of Gold.
HENRI MATISSE
22 Wootton Bassett – Immortal Verse
Standing at Coolmore for €20,000
Like Camille Pissarro, Henri Matisse is a son of Wootton Bassett who offers the attractive combination of two-year-old Group 1 form and a Classic success at three.
He was indicative of the weight of support thrown by Coolmore behind Wootton Bassett as a son of the top miler Immortal Verse, a 6 million guineas purchase in her day who hails from the famous Kilfrush Stud family of former Coolmore stallion Last Tycoon. And he duly became an early important flagbearer for the Coolmore – Wootton Bassett era, winning his first three starts including the Railway and Futurity Stakes.
Only a head separated him and the winner Scorthy Champ in the National Stakes and he later went on to add a deserved top-level success in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, making light of a wide draw in the process.
Henri Matisse trained on into one of the leading three-year-old milers of 2025, his season highlighted by a win in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains.
His female family is replete with classy sprinters and milers, ranging from his champion half-sister Tenebrism, who won the Cheveley Park Stakes and Prix Jean Prat, and dam Immortal Verse to fellow Classic-winning milers Hermosa and Valentine Waltz. Indeed, it hit a particularly rich vein of form last season as the source of Group 1 winners Hawk Mountain and Whirl alongside Henri Matisse.
MARANOA CHARLIE
22 Wootton Bassett – Koubalibre
Standing at Tally-Ho Stud for €20,000
In conjunction with Charlie Bond, Tally-Ho Stud welcomes one of the leading French three-year-olds of 2025 in Maranoa Charlie, who signed off his career with a win in the Prix de la Foret. Using his customary early cruising speed, Maranoa Charlie dictated the race throughout under Aurelien Lemaitre before drawing clear of Classic winner Zarigana for an authoritative win.
In all, he won six races for Christopher Head including his first three races as a two-year-old starting with the Arqana Series des Poulains at Deauville on his debut. He was also the eight-length winner of the Prix Thomas Bryon at Saint-Cloud and also made all to win a pair of Group 3 races at three, namely the Prix Djebel and Prix Paul de Moussac.
A horse who possessed an abundance of early pace, Maranoa Charlie is out of the winning Galileo mare Koubalibre, a half-sister to champion 2yo filly Tiggy Wiggy.
TOPGEAR
19 Wootton Bassett – Miss Lech
Standing at Capital Stud for €3,000
Capital Stud’s burgeoning roster welcomes Topgear, a Group 3-winning two-year-old who developed into a classy 7f performer as an older horse.
Topgear is likely to be best remembered in Britain and Ireland for his decisive victory over Royal Scotsman in the 2024 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket, a win that followed hot on the heels off his success in the Prix du Pin. He also had the measure of subsequent Group 1 winner Sajir when successful on his six-year-old return in the Prix du Palais-Royal.
While Topgear performed consistently well as an older horse for Christopher Head, he was also unbeaten at two for Fabrice Chappet, when his wins included the Prix Eclipse over 6f, and most likely would have taken high order at three had he not been forced to miss that season.
He hails from a family that has enjoyed success on both sides of the Atlantic, with his relatives including the Group 1 performers Americain, Elliptique and Majorien.
UNQUESTIONABLE
21 Wootton Bassett – Strawberry Fledge
Standing at Rathbarry Stud for €10,000
So highly regarded was Unquestionable as a two-year-old at Ballydoyle that he made his debut in stakes company in the Listed First Flier Stakes over 5f at Navan. Third that day to His Majesty, he went on to swiftly make amends in maiden company at the Curragh before running second in the Railway Stakes and Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.
Those performances, particularly the Railway in which he was beaten only a head by subsequent Group 1 winner Buccanero Fuerte, identified Unquestionable as a colt of Group 1 material and indeed he went on to live up to that billing by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita on his season finale.
He was also fourth in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes at three.
A €340,000 yearling, Unquestionable is a member of the famous Best In Show family via the Didina branch responsible for proven Group 1 sires Bated Breath and Cityscape.
GROUP 1 STARS
DELACROIX
22 Dubawi – Tepin
Standing at Coolmore for €40,000
Delacroix turned in one of the defining moments of last season when taking a couple of lengths out of the Irish Champion Stakes field with his potent turn of foot. There was no pegging Delacroix back after that and come the line, he was in comfortable command with the likes of Anmaat, Hotazhell and Shin Emperor in behind.
That performance capped a career for Delacroix that also included a defeat of Ombudsman in the Eclipse Stakes and a Group 1 near miss at two when failing by only a nose in the Futurity Stakes at
Doncaster. That run had followed a win in the Autumn Stakes, one of a trio of Group 3 victories for the horse overall alongside the Ballysax Stakes and Derby Trial.
Aidan O’Brien has consistently alluded to the importance of Delacroix to Coolmore as a potential stallion. He’s the highest-rated runner by Dubawi to be trained at Ballydoyle and like Coolmore’s other Group 1-winning son of Henry Longfellow (who is out of champion Minding), he is out of a champion racemare in Tepin. The daughter of Bernstein won six Group/Grade 1 races, including the Queen Anne Stakes, prior to selling for $8 million to M V Magnier. Sadly, Delacroix is one of only two foals out of the mare; her first, Gratefully, won the 2024 Group 1 Prix de Royallieu.
DIEGO VELAZQUEZ
21 Frankel – Sweepstake
Standing at the National Stud for £17,500
No sooner had it been announced that a partnership led by Sam Sangster had acquired Diego Velazquez to stand at the National Stud, then the horse supplied the ultimate update by taking the Prix Jacques les Marois at Deauville. As is typical of that race, it was one of the season’s key miling events, containing the winners of the 2,000 Guineas, Queen Anne Stakes and Prix Maurice de Gheest among others.
Diego Velazquez’s Group 1 breakthrough wasn’t coming out of turn. He had been one of Ballydoyle’s leading lights at two when a wide-margin debut success at the Curragh was followed by a win in the Champions Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown.
A three-year-old season highlighted by wins in the Solonaway and Meld Stakes – by seven lengths – proved beyond doubt that his best trip was around a mile, although he also successfully cut down to 7f at four to take the Minstrel Stakes as a tune up for Deauville.
Diego Velazquez’s race record suggests that he inherited his share of pace from his dam Sweepstake, a two-year-old 5f Listed winner by Acclamation whose earlier foals include the hardy Ballydoyle-trained Group 1 performers Broome and Point Lonsdale. Further back, it is the same family as Group 1 sire Zoffany.
As a 2,000,000gns yearling, it almost also goes without saying that he possesses the looks to appeal to a wide range of breeders, particularly those acting with an eye on the commercial market.
LEAD ARTIST
21 Dubawi – Obligate
Standing at Banstead Manor Stud for £12,500
No operation is more fully tuned into the capabilities of the Hasili family than Juddmonte Farms. The operation has raced no fewer than 15 stakes winners descending from the great mare, among them Dansili, a leading sire of his time who supplied 24 winners at the top level. Banstead Manor Stud also stood Dansili’s Group 1-winning siblings Cacique and Champs Elysees to good effect – both were Group 1 sires – and now it welcomes another high-flyer from the family in Lead Artist.
A Group 1-winning miler by Dubawi, something he has in common with last season’s British and Irish champion sire Night Of Thunder, Lead Artist’s standout win arrived in the Lockinge Stakes at
Nebwury, in which he came out on top over Dancing Gemini with a trio of Classic winners, Notable Speech, Rosallion and Fallen Angel, in behind.
That performance followed off the back of a progressive three-year-old season, in which he won three races led by the Group 3 Thoroughbred and Darley Stakes.
It won’t escape the attention of those with an interest in pedigrees that Lead Artist is bred on a variation of the Dubawi – Galileo cross also behind Night Of Thunder and Ghaiyyath.
ROSALLION
21 Blue Point – Rosaline
Standing at Dalham Hall Stud for £40,000
The most expensive British-based new recruit, Rosallion retires to stud as the winner of five of 13 starts.
He was a key element behind Blue Point’s fast start at stud as winner of the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere to cap a successful juvenile season that also featured a Listed win at Ascot.
It is for his three-year-old season, however, that he will be most remembered. Having run with credit when second behind Notable Speech in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, Rosallion captured
the Irish equivalent at the Curragh, holding off Haatem for a cosy score, before following up in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, in which he swooped to deny Henry Longfellow by a neck.
That was the last we saw of Rosallion that season. Although winless at four, he ran a number of good races in defeat, notably when just touched off by Docklands in the Queen Anne Stakes. He was also only a head behind Sahlan in the Prix du Moulin and a neck off denying 150/1 shot Qirat in the Sussex Stakes.
The first son of Blue Point to stud in Britain, Rosallion descends from the Reem Three clan via her New Approach daughter Rosaline.
SPEED IS OF THE ESSENCE
AESTERIUS
22 Mehmas – Jane Doe
Standing at Bearstone Stud for £6,500
Aesterius fits neatly into the Bearstone roster as an excellent sprint two-year-old.
It will suit the eyes of the commercial market that he was forward enough to assume a leading role at the 2024 Goffs Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale, where he sold for £380,000 to Richard Brown for
Wathnan Racing. It didn’t take long for that to look money well spent; having won first time out a month later at Bath, he went on to rattle off wins in the Dragon Stakes, Prix d’Arenberg and Flying Childers Stakes.
Mehmas is now forging his own branch of the Acclamation sire line as an established source of speed and Aesterius brings good family connections to the table as a relation to juvenile Pattern race
winners such as Tiger Tanaka and Tawhid.
ARIZONA BLAZE
22 Sergei Prokofiev – Liberisque
Standing at Irish National Stud for €12,500
The latest addition to the burgeoning Amo Racing stallion roster, Arizona Blaze retires to stud on a high, having landed the Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh on his final start.
In almost a throwback to another era, Arizona Blaze packed in six wins in 17 starts over two seasons. He was never out of the first four in nine outings at two, starting with a clear cut win in the first juvenile maiden of the Irish turf Flat season in March 2024. After following up in the Marble Hill Stakes, he went on to secure a quartet of stakes placings headed by runner-up efforts in the Phoenix Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.
If anything, Arizona Blaze thrived off that tough juvenile campaign. He returned at three to win four more races, headed by the Sapphire Stakes and Prix Sigy ahead of his successful Flying Five swansong. One of his best performances also came when beaten only a neck by Time For Sandals in the Commonwealth Cup.
Arizona Blaze is the latest member of the fast and popular Scat Daddy sire line to retire to stud, and with his speed and precocity, embodies plenty of attributes appreciated in that tribe. A horse with size and substance, he is likely to be well supported by Amo Racing in his new career.
ELECTROLYTE
22 Hello Youmzain – Bibury
Standing at Norton Grove Stud for £3,000.
Forward enough to command £220,000 as a breezer, Electrolyte wasted no time in making an impression as a two-year-old for Wathnan Racing, winning his 6f debut at Ayr before falling short by only a nose to peg back Rashabar in a 22-runner Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot; the likes of Camille Pissarro and Cool Hoof Luke were behind him that day.
He returned later in the year to win the Prix Eclipse at Chantilly.
The first son of Hello Youmzain to stud, and therefore a member of the ever-popular quick Kodiac line, Electrolyte is a half-brother to the talented Steel Of Madrid and descends directly from the
champion racemare Dahlia.
ELITE STATUS
21 Havana Grey – Dotted Swiss
Standing at Whitsbury Manor Stud for £8,000
It says plenty for the package behind Elite Status that he is the son of Havana Grey chosen by Whitsbury Manor to stand alongside his sire.
He was the most expensive yearling sold by Havana Grey in 2022 when knocked down to Karl Burke, who saddled him to make an early impression at two when successful in his first two races including the National Stakes at Sandown Park. He also had the measure of subsequent Group 1 winner Sajir when taking the Prix de Cabourg at Deauville.
He was also a dual stakes winner at three when successful in the Carnarvon Stakes and Hackwood Stakes – over older horses – at Newbury.
Elite Status belongs to the same Hesmonds Stud family of Galaxie Dust as Diego Velazquez and can be guaranteed to receive his share of the powerful Whitsbury Manor broodmare band that helped launch his own sire to such good effect.
INISHERIN
21 Shamardal – Ajman Princess
Standing at Dalham Hall Stud for £12,500
Newcastle’s mile novice on its March 7 card in 2024 looked above average at the time, but little did we know how well it would work out. The winner Inisherin quickened smartly to pull nearly four lengths clear of Kalpana; both were Group 1 winners by the end of the year.
So well regarded was Inisherin in the Karl Burke stable that he lined up next in the 2,000 Guineas, where he wasn’t disgraced in sixth behind Notable Speech. The mile looked to stretch him that day and he was swiftly cut back in distance, which reaped immediate rewards when he won the Sandy Lane Stakes next time out, bursting Vandeek’s bubble in the process. That set him up for the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, in which he justified the high opinion held of him with an easy win.
Inisherin didn’t win again that year but returned last season to land the Duke Of York Stakes.
A top-class sprinter on his day, Inisherin is the latest representative of Shamardal to stand under the Darley banner and hails from one of the most active families in the Stud Book as a son of Group 1 winner Ajman Princess, herself a half-sister to seven stakes horses including Group 1-winning miler Triple Time. Indeed, he shares his granddam Reem Three with Rosallion.
MAGNUM FORCE
22 Mehmas – Tropical Rock
Standing at Ballyhane Stud for €7,500
It says plenty for Magnum Force’s pace and constitution that he was able to defeat America’s best in their own backyard. The race in question was the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Del Mar, in which Magnum Force made light of the tight track, using his turn of foot to come from off the pace and win going away.
That win capped a juvenile campaign that featured two wins and three placings in as many starts, including a third in the Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster.
A true 5f specialist, Magnum Force exhibited many of the qualities associated with his sire Mehmas as well as his female family, which features the Coventry Stakes winner Sri Pekan.
ROYAL SCOTSMAN
20 Gleneagles – Enrol
Standing at Genesis Green Stud for £6,000
A very welcome addition to the British stallion scene is the Swinburn family’s Genesis Green Stud in Newmarket. Long well respected as a prolific producer of winners, the family welcomes the Group 2-winning two-year-old and Classic-placed Royal Scotsman as its first stallion – and fittingly so given it sold the horse for 125,000gns as a yearling to SackvilleDonald on behalf of Jim and Fitri Hay.
Trained by Paul and Oliver Cole, Royal Scotsman broke his maiden by five lengths at Goodwood early in his two-year-old campaign before returning to the track to take the Richmond Stakes over 6f in track record-setting time. He was subsequently beaten only a head when second in the Dewhurst Stakes to Chaldean.
Royal Scotsman also ran third in the following year’s 2,000 Guineas, despite racing away from the action, and was the front-running winner of the Diomed Stakes at four.
This highly effective miler shares his sire Gleneagles with the highest-rated horse in the world, Calandagan, and is out of a stakes-placed relation to champion Bakharoff.
SCORTHY CHAMP
22 Mehmas – Fidaaha
Standing at Barton Stud for £8,500
Barton Stud is another to delve into the stallion game, in their case with the addition of Scorthy Champ, a welcome name to the British stallion ranks as a tip-top two-year-old by Mehmas.
Scorthy Champ looked a top-class juvenile in the making from the outset for Joseph O’Brien when making a winning debut at Leopardstown in May of his two-year-old campaign. The subsequent Group 1 winner Hotazhell was among those behind him that day and Scorthy Champ duly went on to swiftly climb the ranks himself, with a third in the Futurity Stakes preceding a breakthrough success over Henri Matisse in the National Stakes.
Scorthy Champ is the latest son of Mehmas, a brilliant source of precocity and speed, to stud in Britain and Ireland. He is a full-brother to two other high-class two-year-olds in Malavath (winner of the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte) and Knight (winner of the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes) and from the further family of none other than Shergar.
SHADOW OF LIGHT
22 Lope De Vega – Winters Moon
Standing at Kildangan Stud for €17,500
It takes a special two-year-old to pull off the Group 1 Middle Park – Dewhurst Stakes double, which explains why it has been achieved by only three horses since 1980.
The latest is Shadow Of Light, a half-brother to Earthlight whose versatility and precocity saw him take the Middle Park Stakes by four lengths from Whistlejacket en route to a battling winning display in the Dewhurst Stakes.
The Charlie Appleby-trained colt also won his first two starts in novice company before meeting his one and only juvenile defeat in the Gimcrack Stakes at York, in which he ran second with the likes of Camille Pissarro and Big Mojo in behind. He was also Classic-placed in a four-race three-year-old career when third in the 2,000 Guineas.
From a well established Darley line, Shadow Of Light is out of Group 1-placed two-year-old Winters Moon and from the further family of champion sire Be My Guest as well as the short-lived Derby winner Golden Fleece.
AND NOT FORGETTING…
KYPRIOS
18 Galileo – Polished Gem
Standing at Coolmore. Fee: poa
Eight Group 1 wins. 15 stakes wins. 17 wins in 21 starts overall during six seasons. Kyprios’ race record makes for remarkable reading.
When it comes to evaluating the staying division of the past few years, Kyprios will be remembered as one of the greats. There were the two Ascot Gold Cups, two Goodwood Cups, two Prix du Cadrans and two Irish St Legers. Kyprios invariably exerted a cosy authority over his victims, but there were also occasions of complete domination, such as his 20-length win in the 2022 Prix du Cadran.
It has to be remembered that the latter part of his career followed a near life-ending leg injury. It says plenty for his constitution that he was able to overcome that and add another four Group 1 victories to his record.
Kyprios is being marketed under Coolmore’s jumps banner but hopefully several Flat or dual-purpose orientated breeders will give him a second thought. After all, his 17 wins also includes a juvenile success while unsurprisingly for a son of Galileo, he owns a pedigree out of the top drawer being out of Moyglare Stud Farm’s blue hen Polished Gem, whose seven other black-type performers includes Group 1 winner Free Eagle.
LOS ANGELES
21 Camelot – Frequential
Standing at Castlehyde. Fee: poa
Joining Kyprios as a new dual-purpose option for Coolmore is its three-time Group 1 winner Los Angeles. As a son of Camelot, he belongs to the Montjeu sire line that has fared so well in the jumps game and brings to the table a lengthy race record highlighted by wins in the Irish Derby, Tattersalls Gold Cup and Criterium de Saint-Cloud. He also ran third in the Derby and Arc.
This hardy horse is also supported by a pedigree out of the top drawer as a direct descendant of Allegretta and therefore from the same family as none other than Galileo and Sea The Stars via the branch that provided Tamayuz among others.
FRENCH MARKET WELCOMES CASTILLON STALLIONS
The talking point among the French stallion ranks is the ambition behind new operation Castillon Stallions, the brainchild of Benoit Jeffroy which welcomes the Group 1 winners Marhaba Ya Sanafi and Tribalist.
Marhaba Ya Sanafi (€6,000) boasts class and durability as a Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner who packed in five wins in 25 starts over four seasons. The son of Muharaar was also a Group 3 winner at four and descends from the noted family of La Meillure via the branch responsible for the Group/Grade 1 winners Aspen Grove and Skitter Scatter.
Similar can be said for Tribalist (€6,000), whose lengthy career for Andre Fabre was capped by a win over Charyn in the 2024 Group 1 Prix du Moulin. The winner of ten of 25 starts in total, including three renewals of the Group 2 Prix du Muguet, the son of Farrh stands at Castillon under the Godolphin banner.
Haras de Grandcamp has added Whistlejacket (€14,000), one of the leading juvenile lights of 2024 whose wins included the Group 1 Prix Morny and Group 2 July Stakes. A full-brother to Little Big Bear, another top two-year-old, the son of No Nay Never descends directly from the champion racemare All Along. Haras d’Etreham, meanwhile, has bolstered its roster with the arrival of Beauvatier (€7,000). Last seen winning the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket, the Lope De Vega colt was also a Group 3 winner at two and placed in the Group 1 Prix de la Foret and Prix Maurice de Gheest at three.
