Royal Ascot winner Washington DC recruited to Bearstone Stud

Washington DC, one of three first-crop Royal Ascot winners for his sire Zoffany in 2015 along with Illuminate and Waterloo Bridge, will retire to Bearstone Stud in 2019.

Trained by Aidan O'Brien, Washington DC won the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at the royal meeting before finishing runner-up to champion two-year-old Air Force Blue in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh.

In the following season he recorded a brace of Listed wins, finished third to Quiet Reflection in the Commonwealth Cup and was second to Marsha in the Prix de l'Abbaye at Chantilly.

Only a neck separated him and Take Cover when second in the Group 2 King George Stakes at Goodwood the same season.

As a four-year-old, he won the Group 3 Phoenix Sprint Stakes at the Curragh and again finished a close second to Marsha in the Group 3 Palace House Stakes at Newmarket.

The five-year-old finished a head behind Battaash in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock this season, and retires with career earnings of £513,622.

Out of the Shinko Forest mare How's She Cuttin', a seven-time winner over five furlongs, Washington DC traces back to the 1971 Coronation Stakes winner Magic Flute, also the granddam of champion juvenile and successful sire Grand Lodge.

Bearstone Stud owner Terry Holdcroft said: "I've followed his career since he won at Royal Ascot as a two-year-old and everyone at Bearstone is thrilled to have the opportunity to stand him in Britain.

"He's a very fast horse, comes from a very speedy family and is by a stallion who had a Royal Ascot two-year-old treble in his first season."

Washington DC will join Fountain Of Youth at Bearstone Stud. A stud fee will be announced at a later date.

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