Star stallion Wootton Bassett has passed away at the age of 17 at Coolmore Australia.
Coolmore Australia confirmed the death from pneumonia on Tuesday.
A statement on X said: "Wootton Bassett, one of the world's great sires, has sadly passed away today at Coolmore Australia having suffered from choke and subsequently developing an acute pneumonia which deteriorated rapidly.
"Despite round-the-clock care from a dedicated team of vets, overseen by Dr Nathan Slovis from Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Kentucky, he was unable to be saved.
"Wootton Bassett's story as a sire is a unique one. Nicolas de Chambure got him off to an incredible start at Haras d'Etreham in France before he was acquired by Coolmore in 2020.
"In his time at Coolmore he developed into a world-class sire, with 25 stakes winners and six Group One winners from his current two and three-year-old crops conceived in Ireland. Included amongst these are multiple Group One-winning sons Camille Pissarro and Henri Matisse as well as this season's multiple Group One-winning filly, Whirl.
"His current two-year-old crop in Europe already includes six Group winners. Albert Einstein, who defeated subsequent Group One winner Power Blue in the Group Three Marble Hill Stakes, is considered by both Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore to be one of the best two-year-olds ever seen in Ballydoyle.
"Two more colts, Constitution River and Puerto Rico, have won Group Two races in recent weeks while a pair of fillies, Composing and Beautify, both scored at the same level."
A son of Iffraaj, Wootton Bassett won five of his nine career outings on the track for trainer Richard Fahey, which featured an incredible unbeaten two-year-old campaign with victories in valuable sales races at York and Doncaster before his triumph in the 2010 Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, cementing his place as champion juvenile in France that season.
He failed to win in four starts as a three-year-old but finished fifth in both the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Prix Maurice de Gheest.
He was purchased by Coolmore from Haras d'Etreham in 2020, eight years on from his introduction to the stallion ranks where he stood for a fee of €6,000. It didn't take Wootton Bassett long to make an impact as a sire as the Classic-winning and European champion three-year-old Almanzor emerged from his first crop.
Wootton Bassett's rise as a stallion in France continued over the years, with Wooded winning the 2020 Prix de l'Abbaye, while James Fanshawe's top-class filly Audarya completed a Group 1 double thanks to victories in both the Prix Jean Romanent and Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. In the same season, Speak Of The Devil and Mageva finished second and third respectively in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.
A striking 2020 season for Wootton Bassett saw him join the Coolmore roster. He stood his first season for a fee of €100,000 and immediately made a gigantic splash for new connections. His debut crop included four Group 1-winning juveniles, with Camille Pissarro replicating his father courtesy of success in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, Henri Matisse claiming the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, while both Tennessee Stud and Twain enjoyed victory in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud and Criterium International.
His heroics as a stallion have already been well-highlighted in 2025, with the aforementioned pair of Camille Pissarro and Henri Matisse winning the Prix Du Jockey Club and Poule d'Essai des Poulains, while Whirl stuck in both the Pretty Polly and Nassau Stakes and the Melbourne Cup-bound Al Riffa added the Irish St Leger to his already glowing CV. In the juvenile division, the unbeaten Albert Einstein remains a very exciting prospect, having not been sighted since his success in the Marble Hill Stakes in May, while it's unlikely we have seen the best from the impressive Debutante Stakes scorer Composing.
Other notable performers include the Amo Racing-owned duo of King Of Steel, who finished runner-up in the 2023 Epsom Derby before winning the Champion Stakes, and Bucanero Fuerte, who claimed the 2023 Phoenix Stakes by four lengths and finished third in the Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh last month.
Wootton Bassett was covering his fifth book of mares in Australia, where he currently stood for a record fee of A$385,000. He covered his fourteenth book of mares earlier this season in Europe for a fee of €300,000.
Wootton Bassett passed away having produced 16 top-level winners.
