Busy covering an elite book of mares at Coolmore Australia this spring, Wootton Bassett is enjoying a benchmark year with his NH bred juveniles and his success has been reflected in the sale ring this week,
Wootton Bassett is the current leading European two year-old sire with 32 winners including 10 stakes-winners and he also smashed it out of the park at the Tattersalls October Book Yearling Sale Book when his colt from Park Bloom sold for 4.3million guineas.
It was the highest price for a yearling colt in the world in 2024 and a European record for a yearling colt.
Consigned by the Burns family’s Lodge Park Stud, the star colt is from well related Galileo mare Park Bloom and was the talk of Park Paddocks before entering the ring and he did not disappoint, selling to Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing with Coolmore’s MV Magnier the underbidder.
It is a feat that the Burns family are very familiar with as they also sold blueblood Galileo filly Al Naamah, the full sister to Park Bloom, to set a European record at this sale in 2013 when selling for 5million guineas. The pair are sisters to the Epsom Oaks winner Was out of a daughter of Champion filly Park Express, the dam of Epsom Derby winner NewApproach.
The sale means that the Burns family and farm hold the records for the highest-priced yearling colt and filly ever sold at auction in Europe, both at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and both by Coolmore based sires.
"He is a beautiful horse and the family has always done us well, and, hopefully, he will be the next one to enhance the pedigree. I was not expecting that! I was not really thinking when it went over four million - emotion took over, it was surreal. I am coming down from the clouds a bit now and it was all pretty special,” said Jamie Burns, who led up the colt himself and was surrounded by family including his mother Patricia.
"He has been busy all week and has never turned a hair once. We have bred four generations on this colt's page and we also had Park Appeal, who is in Wootton Bassett's pedigree, too."
Amo Racing have bought up a storm at this sale spending 19,575,000 guineas on 17 yearlings and investing with Al Shaqab Racing in another seven for 2,565,000.
"If you were going to paint a racehorse, he is as close to perfection as you can get. From the top to the bottom - from the farm he came from, the amount of time and money and love that the Burns family has put into that page, it just does not take any explaining to anyone,” said bloodstock agent Alex Elliott, who was stood alongside Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing.
"To get a physical like that, that is a lifetime achievement for anyone. For us to be part of that, to buy into that, it is just phenomenal that Kia has done it - you don't really find people who can do that. I said to Kia when I first showed him the horse, it did not take a genius to find the horse, we all said that you can't get better than that.”
Wootton Bassett also had a huge result with William Haggas bidding 1.7million guineas to secure the filly from Group III winner My Titania offered the Castlebridge Consignment.
She is a half-sister to Group winners My Oberon, My Prospero and stakes-winner My Astra and was bought on behalf of Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy.
"She'll join their broodmare band eventually," said Haggas, the trainer of both My Prospero and My Astra, as well as their dam's half-brother, multiple Group winning sprinter Muthmir.
"She is very nicely made. We've had a few of the family and they are all quite big, as she is. We were very keen to buy her."
Wootton Bassett had 19 yearlings sell for an average 600,000 guineas.
