4 Oct 2020Almanzor’s sire Wootton Bassett was in the thick of the feature race action at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe meeting in France overnight.
His son Wooded stepped up to the big time at Longchamp to claim the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye over 1000m.
Overcoming a tardy start to sit handy, he rounded off strongly under pressure to claim the third victory of his career.
“I have always held him in high esteem and since he won the Group 3 nothing has gone right,” winning trainer Francis-Henri Graffard said.
The result spoke volumes for Wooded’s quality as he is expected to be more of a force to reckoned with in time and on better footing.
“Because of the pandemic, he had to miss Royal Ascot,” Graffard said.
“Then I had to run him over the wrong trip and I was running him today for education, as I thought next year would be his year.
“We have a nice sprinter on our hands and the only question was the ground. He is much better on fast ground.”
Wooded, who had previously won the G3 Prix Texanita, is Wootton Bassett’s third individual Group 1 winner. He is out of a mare by former New Zealand shuttle Elusive City.
Cambridge Stud shuttle stallion Almanzor is Wootton Bassett's best representative with three top-flight titles during his decorated racing career.