A son of the champion sire Too Darn Hot and out of a Danehill Dancer mare from the family of the champion Alexander Goldrun, Hotazhell has all the hallmarks of the Dubawi line: precocity, speed and toughness. His turn of foot and his determination are strong assets for a stallion career, and he represents an excellent opportunity for European and Australian breeders alike.
Hotazhell proved himself one of the leading colts of his generation in Europe as a juvenile, earning a Timeform rating of 121. He won three Group races, including the Group 1 Futurity Stakes, in which he beat Delacroix.
After finishing placed in the Irish Guineas at three, he returned to the highest level this year to win the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes.
In each of his three Group 1 victories he showed a remarkable will to win and fearless courage. Since the breeze-up sales as a two-year-old, Hotazhell has raced in four different countries, proof of an outstanding constitution.
Jessica Harrington said: "Hotazhell has been a joy to train. He's tough, sound and consistent, and following his win in the Irish Champion Stakes, he has proven what we have always known – he is a brilliant racehorse."
Too Darn Hot is the sire of eight Group 1 winners and belongs to a rare group of stallions to have enjoyed success in both hemispheres. In Australia he has already established himself as an elite sire, standing at $275,000 inc. GST, with two Group 1-winning colts now at stud and a further 36 stakes winners to his name; this season alone has seen the emergence of the new Group winners American Eagle and Bangkok Hottie.
Hotazhell will be his first son to stand at stud in Europe.
For Antony Thompson, the appeal of the stallion was clear: "We are delighted to have been able to acquire Hotazhell jointly with Nicolas de Chambure's Haras d'Etreham. He is a horse we have followed closely and genuinely believe is ideally suited to the Australian market.
"He has an outstanding racing profile, having been a Group 1 winner at two in Great Britain before going on to win the Irish Champion Stakes last weekend, one of Europe's great weight-for-age races, and easily comparable in significance to Australia's Cox Plate. When you combine that level of performance with his pedigree and physical attributes, we feel he has all the qualities to become a significant stallion in Australia.
"It is also a great pleasure to be partners with a farm of Haras d'Etreham's standing. Like Widden, they are a generational family operation with an incredible history in French breeding, and they share similar values to our own. Thanks to Matt Houldsworth, who assisted in putting this together."
Hotazhell will make his racing swansong on British Champions Day at Ascot before joining Haras d'Etreham, where for almost a century the farm has had a great record for producing famous champions.
Group 1 winners such as Maximova, Urban Sea, Septième Ciel, Anabaa Blue, King's Best, Baiser Volé and, more recently, the European champion Almanzor and the leading American filly Uni were all raised at Etreham, and the farm launched the stallion career of the champion sire Wootton Bassett before his sale to Coolmore Stud for a record sum.
Nicolas de Chambure added: "We are absolutely delighted at the prospect of welcoming a horse of Hotazhell's calibre to Etreham for the 2027 season. His pedigree and racing record are of the very highest standard, and his conformation is impeccable. He has great presence and quality, and plenty of size and scope. He really ticks all the boxes. The partnership with Widden Stud came about naturally, and we are delighted to be working with Antony and his team, who are a leading force in Australia and with whom we share the same vision."
Thompson concluded: "We are excited to have secured an elite sire whose bloodlines, race profile and physical attributes will work in Australia. Being able to purchase 50% of a horse with such international appeal is very rare for Australian farms and we are excited to be able to offer a limited number of shares to our Australian clients that will lay the foundation for his success both here and in France."
