Richard Fahey remembers ‘incredible’ talent of Wootton Bassett

Trainer Richard Fahey hailed Wootton Bassett an “incredible sire and incredible horse” following his untimely death at the age of 17.

North Yorkshire-based Fahey guided the son of Iffraaj to victory in each of his five juvenile starts 15 years ago, a run which included back-to-back sales wins at York and Doncaster and was rounded off with a Group One triumph in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc weekend in Paris.

Coolmore Australia announced his death on Tuesday and Fahey, who was attending the September yearling sales in Ireland, told the PA news agency: “It’s horrendous news, not good at all. We were only a small part of it, but it was a great journey from rags to riches, from being a racehorse to becoming a stallion.

“It’s the people who looked after him that you feel for, the Coolmore team and everyone involved with him directly and the people who cared for him along the way.

“I know our yard is sad this morning.”

Wootton Bassett was bought by Fahey’s team as a yearling for a relatively modest fee of £46,000, but it did not take the trainer long to realise he had a potential star on his hands.

“We knew he was a very good horse from the start really,” he added.

“We cheated a bit as we went for the sales races and took the easier option, but the Lagardere was always going to be his race.

“At the time you were getting maybe £200,000 for winning those sales races, which was a lot of money in those days.

“We took the easy route, but we always knew he was a Group horse and for him to win the Lagardere was fantastic, it was a great day.”

Although Wootton Bassett did not fulfil his potential on the racecourse as a three-year-old, he enjoyed a meteoric rise during his hugely successful second career as a stallion.

Having initially stood in France for a fee that dropped to as low as €4,000 at one stage, he went on to produce French Derby, Irish Champion and Champion Stakes hero Almanzor and a number of other top-class horses, prompting the Coolmore operation to secure his services in 2020.

A starting stud fee of €100,000 for his new team continued to sky rocket as he went on to produce King Of Steel, Whirl, Al Riffa and Henri Matisse to name but a few, meaning this year he was commanding €300,000 for every mare that paid him a visit.

Fahey said: “From day one what he did to the mares in France – he improved pretty ordinary mares – and then his whole career just got unbelievable and he was only really just getting going.

“Even last weekend he had two-year-olds winning in France, Ireland and England who all look nice horses and could be anything.

“He’s been an incredible sire and an incredible horse and he was a good-minded, kind horse.

“I feel for everybody involved and everybody that knew the horse, today will be sad – he was that sort of horse.”