Breeders' Cup strike by Henri Matisse bolsters four-star sire Wootton Bassett

The spectacular exploits of Wootton Bassett's first Irish-conceived crop of two-year-olds reached ever greater heights on Del Mar's Friday card with the victory of Henri Matisse in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

These individuals are the return from the sire's debut season standing at Coolmore Stud following his high-profile acquisition from Haras d'Etreham. 

The support he received from his direct backers, as well as others tempted in at that initial €100,000 fee, has seen Wootton Bassett smash the existing record for Group winners recorded at two from the same crop.

That old mark of seven now stands at ten, of which Henri Matisse was already one from his success in the Railway Stakes in June. Having not helped himself in two previous tries at the top level, he has become his sire's fourth Group or Grade 1 winner from among those juveniles. What is even more extraordinary is that three have appeared within the space of less than a week.

Last Sunday, he sired a double through the exciting Twain in the Criterium International, following just after the triumph of Tennessee Stud in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Three weeks earlier it had been the turn of Camille Pissarro in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.

They are a reflection of some of the fabulous mares that produced many of his 213 foals from that 2021 covering season. Camille Pissarro is a half-brother to Golden Horde, for example, while Twain is out of the Rockfel-winning Montjeu mare Wading, a particularly successful branch.

Henri Matisse, who picked his way through the field and showed determination to thwart Iron Man Cal and the Vintage Stakes winner Aomori City in a tight finish, is no different.

He is the sixth foal out of the brilliant Coronation Stakes and Prix Jacques le Marois winner Immortal Verse, from the fabled Kilfrush Stud family of Last Tycoon, who was bought by a Coolmore partnership through BBA Ireland for a then European record price for a broodmare of 4,700,000gns at Tattersalls in 2013.

So far she is the dam of Tenebrism, by Caravaggio, who claimed both the Cheveley Park Stakes and the Prix Jean Prat at Group 1 level, and Statuette (Justify), who was unbeaten in her only two starts including the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes.

Trainer Aidan O'Brien and jockey Ryan Moore felt that removing the blinkers, which they had tried for the first time when Henri Matisse was fifth to his stablemate and paternal half-brother in the Lagardere, had been helpful.

"There was a good few things that went wrong that we thought we could forget about and we always thought he was a very good horse," said O'Brien. 

"He’s a Wootton Bassett and an unbelievable talent who can come from the back and quicken up and finish. Ryan gave him another beautiful ride. He’s a beautiful horse, a very well-bred horse. These Wootton Bassetts get better every week, so it’s very exciting, really."

Read next:

What does City Of Troy's pedigree say concerning his chances in the Breeders' Cup Classic?