JAMES Hannon’s The Old Road Stud welcomed the dual Group 3 winner Ilaraab to its stallion ranks last year.
The son of Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj), a 200,000gns yearling purchase by Shadwell, won eight of his 14 starts for William Haggas and was placed twice in Group 3 races. He beat Max Vega in the Group 3 St Simon Stakes at Newbury and rounded off his racing career with victory in the Group 3 Aston Park Stakes at the same venue.
In the Group 3 Cumberland Lodge Stakes at Ascot he was third to the Group 1 winner and now Darley Japan stallion Hukum and Glenview Stud’s Eagles By Day, with Group 1 Goodwood Cup winner Quickthorn in fourth, while in the Group 3 Legacy Cup at Newbury he was beaten just over a length when third. All his wins came over distances from a mile to 12 furlongs.
Ilaraab’s unraced dam is a half-sister to the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes winner Census (Cacique), while their dam’s own-brother was Leadership (Selkirk), and his five wins were headed by success in the Group 1 Gran Premio di Milano. Their half-sister Havant (Halling) won the Group 3 Oh So Sharp Stakes and her successful offspring are headed by the stakes winner Chichester (Dansili).
National Hunt breeders will be happy to know that Havant’s half-sister Hallouella (Halling) is the dam of Cabot Cliffs (Gleneagles). That globetrotter is already a 13-time winner, including this year, and eight of those successes have come over jumps, in France, Germany and Sweden. A dual listed hurdle winner, he could yet add Italy to his list of winning countries, as he was placed there in the Grade 1 Gran Corsa Siepi di Merano Hurdle.
Wootton Bassett stands at Coolmore where he is one of their very best sires. He is one of 11 top-level scorers among 98 stakes winners for Iffraaj (Zafonic), and was an undefeated Group 1 winner and champion in France at two.
He made an immediate impact with his first crop, his juvenile stakes-winning son Almanzor becoming a champion at three. That Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby, Irish Champion Stakes and Champion Stakes standout is already sire of two Group 1 winners
Joseph O’Brien’s 2022 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes winner Al Riffa was the sixth Group 1 winner for Wootton Bassett, and the fifth after he was purchased by Coolmore.
Last year the sire added three more Group 1 winners, the juveniles Bucanero Fuerte and Unquestionable, and the Champion Stakes winner King Of Steel.
Wootton Bassett’s other top-level performers among 39 stakes winners include Wooded who ended his career with victory in the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp. That same day, Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet heroine Audarya finished third to Tarnawa in the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera before winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
Another daughter, Incarville, won the 2021 Group 1 Saxon Warrior Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary, and Zellie captured the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac.
Race record
ILARAAB (IRE), Bay horse, 2017. Won 8 races, value £192,138, at 3 to 5, from 1 mile to 1 mile 4 furlongs, Aston Park Stakes, Newbury, Gr.3, St Simon Stakes, Newbury, Gr.3, also placed third in Cumberland Lodge Stakes, Ascot, Gr.3 and Legacy Cup, Newbury, Gr.3.
At stud
Retired to stud in 2023, first crop now foals.
Information
Stands at: The Old Road Stud, Tallow, Co Waterford, Ireland
Contact: James and Marian Hannon
Telephone: +353 58 56343 or +353 86 8782765
Email: theoldroadstud@eircom.net
Fee: Private