Juvenile Group 1 double for Wootton Bassett at Saint Cloud as Twain lives up to blue-blooded expectations

A juvenile Group 1 double at Saint Cloud on Sunday emphasised, if it were needed, just how well Wootton Bassett has gelled with the aristocratic bloodlines he has been given access to since his acquisition by Coolmore.

Prior to Sunday's races, his juvenile stakes winners to runners strike rate for the season was 11.6 per cent, which is significantly higher than his lifetime stakes winners to runners rate of 8.2 per cent.

That was showcased to perfection by the second of his new Group 1 winners – Twain – who tackled the Criterium International a week after making a winning debut in a Leopardstown maiden for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore team.

The impressive winner is yet another top-class descendant of blue hen Urban Sea, with the great mare featuring in Twain's pedigree as his third dam. He is now a leading contender to be the latest Classic winner from the line of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine with Aidan O'Brien telling Sky Sports Racing that the 2,000 Guineas is on the agenda for the beautiful bay.

"He's a very quick horse and he looks an obvious for the Guineas so we will wrap him up for the winter. Ryan [Moore] minded him as much as he could and taught him as much as he could today," the trainer commented.

Twain's unorthodox career trajectory was dictated by the whims of the calendar, as O'Brien explained.

"It probably wasn't fair to him as he only ran eight days ago but we always thought he was a highly rated horse and we ran him last week just in case what happened could happen. We had to give him a chance and there was only one Group 1 left for him."

Twain and Ryan Moore after winning the Criterium International at Saint-CloudCredit: Scott Burton

"He is obviously a very good horse. It's Wootton Bassett again and he is out of a very good Montjeu mare, Wading herself was very good [Group 2 winner]," O'Brien added.

Applying the description very good to Twain's pedigree would be a massive understatement.

A Coolmore homebred, he is a half-brother to Rockfel Stakes winner Just Wonderful, a daughter of Dansili who was placed at the highest level in the Matron Stakes and the Belmont Oaks. They are also half-siblings to the War Front colt Lost Treasure, who was placed at Group 3 and Listed level.

Wading won the Rockfel and has a perfect record as a broodmare with six winners from as many runners. She is a Montjeu full-sister to Irish Oaks winner Bracelet and a three-parts sister to Camelot's Belmont Oaks winner and Pretty Polly Stakes third Athena, dam of dual Group 3 winner and Prix de Diane runner-up Never Ending Story.

Another three-parts sister is Group 3 winner and Group 2-placed Goddess, by Camelot, while Wading is also a half-sister to the Listed-placed Sweet Molly Malone and Simply A Star.

Wading's dam is Cherry Hinton who, although placed in the Group 3 Blue Wind Stakes, was one of the least talented members of her family on the track. A daughter of Green Desert, she is closely-related to the outstanding Sea The Stars and a half-sister to the immense sire Galileo plus Group 1 winner and sire Black Sam Bellamy. She is also a half-sister to Grade 1 Diana Stakes winner My Typhoon and to the Group 1-placed All Too Beautiful, herself a highly influential broodmare.

Their dam is blue hen Urban Sea.

Dylan Browne McMonagle returns after Tennessee Stud's win in the Criterium de Saint-CloudCredit: Scott Burton

Joseph O'Brien trained Tennessee Stud, winner of the earlier Criterium de Saint-Cloud over two furlongs further, and that was a real made in Pilltown victory as the colt was bred by O'Brien's mother Annemarie out of In My Dreams, a Sadler's Wells half-sister to seven-time Group 1 winner and champion miler Rock Of Gibraltar.

Although his relative's Classic success came in the 2,000 Guineas, the trainer sees Tennessee Stud as more of a middle-distance prospect.

"His attitude and will to win are what kept him going. He is a very tough colt and it is a testament to his character that he kept on. I imagine he will be trained with Derbies in mind," the winning trainer informed Sky Sports Racing.

The colts are part of a trio of juvenile Group 1 winners sired by Wootton Bassett from his first season at Coolmore and they are the most expensively-bred progeny of the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner to hit the track, conceived at a fee of €100,000.

They, along with Camille Pissarro who emulated his sire with success in the Parisian Group 1, are included in the ten individual juvenile Group winners from that crop. 

Access to those regal bloodlines at Coolmore, especially daughters of Sadler's Wells and his sons Montjeu and Galileo, along with the better mares that boasting a six-figure covering fee can attract has been notably beneficial for Wootton Bassett, who climbed his way to this position.

Wootton Bassett began his career at Haras d'Etreham for an advertised fee of €6,000 which dropped to €4,000 two yearslater. In stark relief is his 2024 covering fee which is listed as €200,000 and at that price he covered 223 mares.

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