Equinties - build from within

Gm Equinauts

Now that a few weeks have passed since his passing, it’s a good time to talk about WOOTTON BASSETT and the phallic shaped hole he’s left at Coolmore.

Let’s not forget, WOOTTON BASSETT was bought to replace the mighty GALILEO, and so now with his premature death, Coolmore need to find their new super sire.

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUNDUP

BUILD FROM WITHIN

It was announced yesterday that DELACROIX will head to the stallion ranks, though this will happen after British Champions Day. One more outing for the Eclipse and Irish Champions Stakes hero is good to see.

Aidan O’Brien has made no secret about how important he is, and on pedigree, he is.

By DUBAWI out of the BERNSTEIN mare TEPIN, no GALILEO blood.

Part of the reason as to why WOOTTON BASSETT was bought was due to his outcrosses to GALILEO. With the sheer amount of GALILEO mares Coolmore have, he was key, and that’s why his death leaves a big gap in Coolmore.

So, what do Coolmore do? Should they go out and buy another stallion, like they did with WOOTTON BASSETT, or do they build from within?

DELACOIX, LITTLE BIG BEAR, BLACKBEARD, PADDINGTON, SIOUX NATION, CAMILLE PISARRO, and HENRI MATISSE are all outcrosses to GALILEO, and ST MARK’S BASILICA is going well, even if he isn’t an outcross to GALILEO.

If they are going to have conversations about replacing the great WOOTTON BASSETT with one from outside of their current team, the decision won’t happen immediately, we don’t think. They might wait a couple of seasons to see how some of these sires do, as DELACROIX will have those GALILEO mares queuing up outside his box next year.

Obviously, it would be three years to see them initially on the track, but they will start to get an idea with the yearlings. Aidan and the lads are massively bigging up DELACROIX, so you feel like they are going to back him for a little bit.

Make no mistake, the next few years will be pretty key for Coolmore and their empire. They’ve lost GALILEO and they’ll only have a few more years left of WOOTTON BASSETT youngsters coming through. We suspect Aidan will be hoping and praying DELACROIX is as good in the shagging shed as he is on the track.

MORE MULLINS BUSINESS

Although Willie Mullins revealed bits and pieces to Sporting Life on Tuesday, the great and the good from the Irish press headed down to Closutton yesterday for a bit more insight on his top team.

While a lot seems to be standard, and plenty of the news is stuff we’ve heard before, there were a few new pieces of information that are worth highlighting.

The first involves the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in six months’ time, because a few people were starting to get a little bit excited about DAVY CROCKETT, the son of ANNIE POWER.

Well, he isn’t DAVY CROCKETT anymore, he’s DAVY CROCKED instead. Sorry, we had to, but, yes, he will miss most of the season, and whether you thought he was overhyped or not, this is ultimately a shame.

Secondly, it seems like Mr Mullins is going to give himself a proper chance at winning his third British Champion Trainers title, and he won’t be putting all of his eggs in the spring festivals basket.

ANZADAM is on course for the Fighting Fifth Hurdle against CONSTITUTION HILL and THE NEW LION (mouth-watering clash), IL ETAIT TEMPS is targeting the Tingle Creek, and GAELIC WARRIOR and FACT TO FILE have eyes on the King George.

It never ceases to amaze at just the sheer depth Mullins has at his disposal. The horses just mentioned there would be A-star students in any other jumps yard, but to Mullins, the likes of ANZADAM and IL ETAIT TEMPS would probably be on for a B grade. He still has STATE MAN, LOSSIEMOUTH, GALOPIN DES CHAMPS, KOPEK DES BORDES, FINAL DEMAND, SALVATOR MUNDI, MAJBOROUGH, LECKY WATSON and more sat at home for the Irish racing.

The ANZADAM news is pretty good to hear, as he is still this unknown quantity who isn’t the most sound in the world. On a going day, he is supposed to be very, very, very good, but we probably haven’t truly seen that going day yet. If he got to Newcastle in one piece, that clash with CON HILL and the big cat (THE NEW LION) could really set the jumps season off to a good start.

MORE SELLING

The second day of Book 1 at Tatts was a bit calmer than Tuesday, but truck loads of money were still flying about for some well-bred ones and Godolphin took home the top lot on day one.

It was a similar story yesterday as they reached into their pockets and pulled out 2.2 million guineas for a FRANKEL half-brother to OTTOMAN FLEET:

Godolphin clearly know the family well with OTTOMAN FLEET, and they must be quite happy with what the half-sister OTTOMAN EMPRESS, a recent Newmarket runner-up on debut, is doing as well. It’s probably worth keeping her on side nto in a novice or a maiden, if she is a backable price.

Anyway, back to this yearling, he was partly bred by Luca Cumani, and the purchase from Godolphin was the highest price any of his have sold through the ring. Cumani said: “This is my best day in the sales ring, it’s very emotional. We’re very thankful to all the people who appreciated the horse. I’m especially thankful to my stud groom Martin [Languillet] and all the staff, who’ve done so much work with the horse.

“It’s fantastic, that’s the highest price we’ve ever had. We sold one for two million last year, which was very exciting, and this is even better! He’s such a lovely horse, he’s never put a foot wrong. He’s a great-looking Frankel colt out of a mare who’s already proven. I’m delighted that he’s going to a very good home.”

With such a proven family, this horse should hopefully be one to watch on the track next year. He probably won’t be an early juvenile (OTTOMAN FLEET didn’t race at 2), but he should be one that gets better at 3+.

Speaking of how important DELACROIX is to Coolmore, they went in search of another DUBAWI yesterday, and the landed on one out of none other than LADY BOWTHORPE, the Group 1 winner for William Jarvis.

LADY BOWTHORPE hasn’t had any hit the track yet, but she is apparently in foal to WOOTTON BASSETT, so she has some really exciting ones coming through. Have Coolmore just landed on another potential stallion for the future?

We’re joking, of course, we’re not going to be like Kia Joorabchian and label a freshly bought yearling as a potential big-time shagger of the future. That being said, Coolmore will be hoping that he is!

As for the boss of Amo Racing, he couldn’t keep away from things for too long, as he secured a NIGHT OF THUNDER colt out of the Group 3-placed MODEL GUEST. Amo Racing also bought a WOOTTON BASSETT half-brother to CRYPTO FORCE and another WOOTTON BASSETT colt out of the Group 1-placed QABALA, both for 2.2 million.

RISK ON

Two darts yesterday, we look to get back on track today.

13.23 ASSURED

A drifter but we quite like this girl. She’s young and unexposed and this trip looks optimal. Tregoning should be firing this time of year and 14/1 looks a good ew in a bad race.

14.50 AHMOMENT

Won easily on soft ground for the first time which is the first time he’s ever encountered it -looks a different horse in the slop! The right fave in a weak race and one to back at 6/4.

18.45 KING OF BEARS

A huge price which is a red flag but he’s too well handicapped to ignore now at 7f for the first time. A guess but worth a punt at 22/1. This is a small bet.

19.00 CATHERINE CHOI

Changed hands back to Jardine and well in. Worth a guessing bet if it’s a gamble. 9/2 win bet.

ENJOYED THE WINNERS LAST WEEKEND? PLEASE SUPPORT THE NEWSLETTER BY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF OUR JUMPS SEASON OFF AND SUBSCRIBE TO THE PREMIUM EDITION BELOW:

Become a paying subscriber to get access to all of our pedigree analysis, big race previews inc. bumper previews, standout stats and best bets over the coming NH season!

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.