Wootton Bassett will shuttle to Coolmore Australia for a fifth consecutive season despite his increasing value in the northern hemisphere.
Alongside the already announced Group 1-winning colt Switzerland ($60,500 inc GST) and Europe’s champion two-and three-year-old City Of Troy ($49,500), Coolmore’s Caulfield Guineas winner Private Life ($19,250) will also retire to stud this year.
Confirmation by Coolmore of Wootton Bassett’s return comes just weeks after fellow international giant Godolphin revealed sire sensation Too Darn Hot would also be back on Australian shores later this year.
Wootton Bassett covered 136 mares at Coolmore’s Jerrys Plains stud farm last spring while his second crop Australian-conceived yearlings have sold up to $1.7 million this year and averaged $352,778 across the Inglis, Magic Millions and New Zealand Bloodstock sales in 2025.
A southern hemisphere fee for Wootton Bassett, who stands for €300,000 (A$534,000) at Coolmore in Ireland, is yet to be set.
“Wootton Bassett is the hottest stallion in the world at the moment and he is already making an undeniable mark on the breed in Australia,” Coolmore Australia principal Tom Magnier said.
“What is most exciting about him in an Australian context is that he has 100 unraced two-year-olds from his first crop and every trainer we speak to seems to have a good one.
“His fee is yet to be confirmed but will be announced in due course.
“We’re just excited to have him back again, as we see him as a champion sire of the future in Australia.”
- The World’s Fastest Horse
Wootton Bassett, purchased by Coolmore as an already established stallion in 2020, produced four Group 1-winning colts from his first crop conceived in Ireland.
His first Australian crop has featured five winners to date, including Golden Slipper runner-up Wodeton.
The northern hemisphere-bred Wootton Bassett import Royal Patronage has also been one of Australia’s premier sprinter-milers this season, winning the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes alongside placings in the Doncaster and Epsom Handicaps for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
Coolmore will also stand its first son of the influential Written Tycoon on its roster via Private Life, a $650,000 yearling purchase who is out of three-time Group 1-placed Snitzel mare Aliyana Tilde.
“Private Life is not only an immensely talented colt, but one of the best-looking stallions we have had in the barn at Jerry’s Plains in my time,” Coolmore Australia racing manager John Kennedy said.
“He is an absolute standout, and breeders are going to love him when they see him. We’re offering a limited number of breeding rights in him and he’s the type of horse that, if he leaves stock that look like himself, breeders can expect a quick return on.”
Everest-winning sprinter Yes Yes Yes and shuttle stallions Churchill and Starspangledbanner were not named on the roster of 13 stallions. The 2025 Coolmore Australia roster also includes Home Affairs ($82,500), St Mark’s Basilica ($38,500), So You Think ($44,000), Shinzo ($55,000), Pride Of Dubai ($27,500) and Pierro ($33,000).
King’s Legacy ($16,500), Best Of Bordeaux ($13,750) and Acrobat ($11,000) will also return for another season on the Coolmore roster. Pride of Dubai, currently leading the Australian sires race, was the only one whose fee has gone up.
Magnier said the Coolmore roster was one of “immense quality”.
“We thought long and hard when setting our fees this year, with a strong focus on offering value to breeders,” he said.
‘“We understand that people are doing it tough, but we want to work with them and see them prosper. While many sales throughout the country have seen slight downturns this year, we have just witnessed one of the strongest Inglis Easter Sales in living memory, meaning that demand for quality stock is stronger than ever.
“The fact that almost a quarter of the yearlings catalogued at Easter were by Coolmore Australia stallions is hugely significant.”
