West Of Swindon hands Coolmore’s star-crossed stallion Wootton Bassett his first Australian stakes winner

The void Wootton Bassett’s untimely death leaves in the global industry was drawn into stark focus on Friday when the stallion scored his first southern hemisphere-bred stakes winner courtesy of West Of Swindon’s victory in the Group 2 Stutt Stakes at The Valley.

The global industry was rocked on Tuesday when Coolmore’s star recruit was euthanised while on shuttle duty in the Hunter Valley after the horse suffered from “acute pneumonia which deteriorated rapidly”.

Wootton Bassett’s impact in Australia has been a slow burner with the stallion siring ten winners in his first term, but was unlucky not to gain Group 1 laurels when his star son, Wodeton, finished a narrow second in the Golden Slipper, while one of his other sons, State Visit, also finished runner-up in the highest company. 

West Of Swindon was also stakes-placed as a juvenile, finishing second in the Silver Slipper Stakes last February when trained by Team Hawkes. 

Switched to Ciaron Maher by his owner/breeders Qatar Racing this season, the colt placed again at stakes level in Listed company on his second start this preparation. 

Ridden by Ben Melham and trained by Ciaron Maher, West Of Swindon unleashed a potent turn of foot to beat Romantic Encounter by half a length with Highvol another two and a half lengths back to Hillier. 

Maher believed the colt would be hard to beat on Friday and said he would now bid for Group 1 glory in the Caulfield Guineas on October 11. 

“I was very confident, he’s a high quality colt and he’s beautifully bred. He might have been a maiden going into tonight, but I can’t think of a better way to break that maiden,” the trainer said.

“Onwards to the Guineas [Caulfield Group 1] now and I can’t thank my team enough as they’ve done  a great job with him and Ben Melham gave him a beautiful ride and took the race by the horns, made every post a winner and backed the horse, so fair play to him.”

Melham added: “He's a pretty well-credentialed horse. He's been running in some better races in Sydney, around the best three-year-olds in Australia,” he said.

“He's strong at the mile, he's got a great attitude, he's got a good will to win for a colt, and he's got a good action, so that'll hold him in good stead."

Purchased by his former trainers for A$350,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling from the Widden Stud draft, West Of Swindon is out of the winning Starcraft, a half-sister to Caulfield Cup winner Fawkner and Tanby, whose 11 wins were headed by two Group 2s. 

Wootton Bassett’s global stakes winner now stands at 72 and they are headed by 16 Group 1 winners. 

Read more

Coolmore's star stallion Wootton Bassett dies at the age of 17 

Why Wootton Bassett’s tragic passing is far from the end of this remarkable bloodstock story 

'He was huge for us' - Richard Fahey pays tribute to his first Group 1 winner Wootton Bassett following stallion's death 

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