BY the time you read this, the first dozen or so yearlings by Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) will have gone under the hammer at Arqana’s yearling sale in Deauville.

This year’s yearling crop is a very significant one for the Coolmore sire, as they are from the first tranche of mares sent to the juvenile Group 1 winner after his purchase and transfer to Ireland. When he was in France, his fee ranged in price from €4,000 to €40,000, but his early success, earned on the back of what would be considered small crops these times, saw it leap to €100,000.