Fancy Quality

Sire Wootton Bassett, an international superstar and one of Europe’s best 2-year-olds in 2010, was bred in England and was recognized as a French champion after going undefeated in five starts at 2, including the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, one of the country’s premier events for juveniles. His emphatic 2 1/2-length victory in that race came over a prestigious field that included proven Group 1 winners.

After entering stud in France in 2012, Wootton Bassett was an immediate success with a small-sized first crop of runners which provided the sire a European 3-year-old champion in Almanzor, whose amazing sophomore season in 2016 included Group 1 wins in England, France, and Ireland. Other Group 1 winners would soon follow, with Audarya, Incarville, Wooded, and Zellie further cementing Wootton Bassett’s legacy as a quality stallion. His Group 1 winners can’t be pigeonholed into a type as their ages range from 2 to 4 years old with wins at distances from five furlongs to 1 1/2 miles.

Wootton Bassett’s continued popularity as a sire is evidenced by at least a dozen six-figure yearlings sold this year at auction. He began his stud career in France, but relocated to Ireland in 2021 to stand as part of the international juggernaut breeding operation known as Coolmore. In his first year at Coolmore, he covered 244 mares, a phenomenal number for a stallion, particularly for a horse whose initial years at stud yielded much smaller crops, albeit ones that produced champions.

Dam One Last Night, a daughter of the late American sire Elusive Quality, was a two-time winner as a 3-year-old in France. This filly is her first foal. One Last Night’s full sister, Devotee, was a winner on debut at Saratoga as a 2-year-old and subsequently was Grade 1-placed in the Alcibiades Stakes and then won the U.A.E Oaks in Dubai at 3. It’s a strong female family with second dam Danuta producing nine winners.