Wootton Bassett has surpassed Redoute's Choice and Extreme Choice as the most expensive stallion to ever stand in Australia, after Coolmore announced on Thursday that his 2025 fee has been set at A$385,000 (inc GST).
A published fee of A$330,000 (inc GST) was the previous record, first set by Redoute's Choice when he stood at Arrowfield Stud in 2007 and 2008. Earlier this year, Newgate Farm announced that Extreme Choice would match that fee in 2025, a significant increase on the A$275,000 (inc GST) he stood for in 2024.
Wootton Bassett returns to Australia having made an excellent start with his first crop of two-year-olds bred in the Southern Hemisphere, headed by G1 Golden Slipper runner-up Wodeton and State Visit, who filled the same position in the G1 Inglis Sires'. That first crop was conceived when Wootton Bassett stood for a fee of just A$71,500.
“Wootton Bassett is the hottest stallion in the world at the moment and he is already making an undeniable mark on the breed in Australia,” said Coolmore Australia's Tom Magnier last month, confirming the son of Iffraaj's return to Jerrys Plains.
“What is most exciting about him in an Australian context is that he has 100 unraced two-year-olds from his first crop and every trainer we speak to seems to have a good one. We're just excited to have him back again, as we see him as a champion sire of the future in Australia.”
In Europe, Wootton Bassett is responsible for 11 Group winners from his first crop bred at Coolmore's Fethard base. They are now three-year-olds and include the top-level winners Camille Pissarro, Henri Matisse, Tennessee Stud and Twain, with the first-named pair due to appear in Sunday's Poule d'Essai des Poulains at ParisLongchamp.
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