One hundred years after the Aga Khan III made his first purchase at the Tattersalls July Sale, the bloodstock empire he built, and which has been carefully cultivated by his grandson, HH the Aga Khan IV, continues to thrive. Over the next three days we look back over the history of one of the most influential owner/breeder operations in the history of the Thoroughbred, with edited highlights from the Aga Khan Studs' centenary brochure, written by Emma Berry and John Berry.
They say that the future belongs to those who plan for it. That maxim definitely applies to the Aga Khan Studs, the foundations of which were laid only after lengthy and careful planning. The Aga Khan III bought his first horse in Europe (Paola) at Tattersalls' July Sale in Newmarket in 1921, but he had been working towards that moment for two decades.
The late Aga Khan was already a leading owner in India by the time that he first visited England in 1898. The first race-meeting which he attended in Britain was the Epsom Spring Meeting, and he returned to the historic course a month later for the Derby. He was then granted a Royal Household Badge for the Royal Enclosure at Ascot, and was soon a devotee of the British turf.
By the time that the Aga Khan III finally started to buy the fillies who would become the foundation mares of his stud, he was more than ready to put his plans into action. He had visited Colonel Hall-Walker's stud (now the Irish National Stud) at Tully in 1904 and his plans had started to solidify.
Other key characters in the establishment of the stud were the Hon. George Lambton and William Duke. Lambton's commitments to Lord Derby meant that he had to decline the request to train for the Aga Khan III, but he agreed to help in the selection of the yearlings and recommended that Dick Dawson, then based at Whatcombe, should train them. In France, William Duke was commissioned both to buy and train his horses there.
The Aga Khan III did not merely hand the reins to his advisors when it came to buying the horses, but played a key role in the selection himself. The results were stunningly successful, right from the outset.
The enterprise began at the Tattersalls July Sale in Newmarket in 1921 with the purchase of two fillies: a daughter of The Tetrarch, subsequently named Paola, and a filly by Bridge Of Earn, named Bombay Duck. The Aga Khan III and Lambton did not have to wait long before receiving confirmation that their judgement was sound. Paola won the Cheveley Park Stakes and finished second in the Middle Park Stakes before taking the Coronation Stakes at three, while Bombay Duck won the Richmond Stakes.
A filly bought later that autumn turned out to be the first of several crucial foundation mares for the Aga Khan Studs. Teresina, by Tracery, was third in both the 1,000 Guineas and St Leger and at four won three races including the Goodwood Cup and the Jockey Club Stakes. She subsequently did even better at stud, breeding nine winners including the 1930 Irish Oaks heroine Theresina, in turn the dam of St Leger winner Turkhan.
Teresina was, however, arguably not the best bargain from the St Leger Sale. A daughter of Flying Orb was bought for 5,000 guineas and named Cos. She became England's best two-year-old filly of 1922, when she won six of her seven races including the Queen Mary Stakes – on debut – and Imperial Produce Stakes. As a three-year-old Cos raced three times for two wins and second place in the 1,000 Guineas. At stud she bred four winners, including Costa Pasha, who won the Chesham Stakes, Hopeful Stakes and Middle Park Stakes, and Mrs Rustom, who landed the Ham Produce Stakes, Gimcrack Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes.
The dream start which Cos gave to the late Aga Khan's British ownership venture was continued later in the meeting when his second runner, Tricky Aunt, made a winning debut in the Windsor Castle Stakes. By the end of the season, largely thanks to the exploits of Paola and Cos, he finished ninth in the list of winning owners.
In 1924, the Aga Khan III achieved the unprecedented feat of being champion owner in both Britain and France, an achievement made even greater by the fact that it was only his third year racing horses. By 1925, he had completed the clean sweep by becoming champion owner in Ireland, with statistics that are easy to recount: one winner of one race! That race, of course, was the Irish Derby, won by the Dick Dawson-trained Zionist, a son of Spearmint who had been bought for 2,400 guineas as a yearling.
Thereafter his success in the two countries went in different directions. Success bred success in England, whereas in France he disbanded his stable when William Duke decided to return to the USA in 1925. He was soon, though, racing there again, giving his French operation plenty of impetus by buying Haras de Saint-Crespin and all its stock from the executors of the late M. Edouard Kann. His principal motivation in this transaction was to secure the Bridaine mare Uganda, which proved to be an inspired decision as she bred the 1932 Oaks heroine Udaipur, who in turn bred the Gold Cup winner Umiddad.
The Tattersalls St Leger Yearling Sale in 1922 turned out to be a crucial event in the establishment of the Aga Khan Studs. The policy remained the same, with the acquisition of fillies who had the potential to be foundation mares augmented by the acquisition of a handful of colts. Remarkably, the few colts bought contained two subsequent British Classic winners. A colt by Grand Parade, named Diophon, provided the Aga Khan III with his first Classic triumph by landing the 2,000 Guineas in 1924. Later that season Salmon-Trout, a son of The Tetrarch , won the St Leger.
The previous month's yearling sale in Deauville also yielded a Classic winner in the shape of Pot-Au-Feu who landed the Prix du Jockey-Club in 1924.
Worth Her Weight In Gold
If those purchases were to prove more than satisfactory, how can one describe the filly by The Tetrarch bought at the same sale? Admittedly, the daughter of the Coventry Stakes heroine Lady Josephine was expensive (she was knocked down to Lambton at 9,100 guineas, which at that point was the largest sum paid for a yearling in the 20th century), but she turned out figuratively to have been worth her weight in gold. Named Mumtaz Mahal by her new owner and subsequently nicknamed 'The Flying Filly' by the racing public, the beautiful grey showed herself to be an outstanding two-year-old, topping the Free Handicap after easily winning five races including the Queen Mary Stakes, the National Breeders' Produce Stakes, the Molecomb Stakes and the Champagne Stakes. The following spring she led the 1,000 Guineas by 10 lengths at the bushes, only to run out of stamina and surrender the lead close home to Plack. Returned to sprinting, she recorded brilliant victories in the King George Stakes at Goodwood and the Nunthorpe Stakes.
Supreme though Mumtaz Mahal was as a racehorse, it is as a broodmare that she earned true immortality. It is not merely that she ranks the most influential broodmare ever to have graced the Aga Khan's studs – she can be viewed as arguably the most influential broodmare ever to have graced any stud.
Seven of Mumtaz Mahal's foals won. None was quite as special as their mother, although Mirza, a son of Blenheim, was just about as fast. However, her fillies came into their own after their retirement to the paddocks. Mumtaz Mahal ranked as the Aga Khan Studs' most notable matriarch throughout the 20th century and remains thus in the 21st, with her descendants including Petite Etoile, Shergar and Zarkava.
While the early years of the Aga Khan III's ownership revolved around racing horses whom he had bought, the main aim of breeding his own stock started as soon as the first batch of fillies retired to the paddocks. To this end, he bought several properties in Ireland to form the core of his studs. First came Sheshoon Stud, in 1923, with Ballymany Stud purchased shortly afterwards.
Blenheim Provides A Notable First
Just as Cos had got the ball rolling for the Aga Khan III as an owner with her debut victory in the 1922 Queen Mary Stakes, so was she a key player in the formative years of his career as a breeder. His best two-year-old of 1928 was her homebred Gainsborough colt Costaki Pasha, winner of the Chesham Stakes at Ascot followed by the Hopeful Stakes and then the Middle Park Stakes. The ease of his Middle Park Stakes victory ensured that he ended the year as joint-second top weight in the Free Handicap, only 1lb behind the top-weighted Tiffin.
Although Costaki Pasha's three-year-old season was disappointing, the Aga Khan III still ended the 1929 season as leading owner in Britain, his cause greatly helped by a tremendous crop of two-year-olds. Four of them were earmarked by Dick Dawson for Ascot. Two of the quartet had already run and won (Blenheim, who had been bought from his breeder Lord Carnarvon as a yearling; and Qurrat-Al-Ain, who been an expensive yearling at 12,500 guineas) while Rustom Pasha (a homebred colt by Son-In-Law from Cos) and Teacup would make their debuts.
The dream became reality when all four won. On the Tuesday Qurrat-Al-Ain justified odds-on favouritism in the Queen Mary Stakes; on the Wednesday Rustom Pasha dead-heated for the Chesham Stakes; on the Thursday Blenheim won the New (now Norfolk) Stakes; on the Friday Teacup won the Windsor Castle Stakes. The four horses made varying progress as that season and the next went on. Qurrat-Al-Ain was largely disappointing although she did win the Coronation Stakes 12 months later, whereas Rustom Pasha developed into one of the best three-year-olds of 1930, winning the Eclipse Stakes and Champion Stakes.
It was Blenheim, though, who went on to the greatest glory. Rustom Pasha and Blenheim both lined up for the 1930 Derby and, although Rustom Pasha went off the shorter-priced, Blenheim galloped his way to immortality by giving his owner his first victory in the greatest race of all. The excitement of the occasion was perfectly summed up by a contemporary report which related that the crowd gave “a striking display of enthusiasm when the Aga Khan, hat in hand, and laughing like a happy schoolboy, led the colt through a lane of humanity to the unsaddling enclosure”.
While Blenheim, of course, had been bred by Lord Carnarvon, the Aga Khan III was still able to taste Classic glory with a homebred that year when Theresina won the Irish Oaks. Theresina, incidentally, was arguably not the most distinguished of Teresina's offspring, her Classic triumph and subsequent great achievements as a broodmare notwithstanding. That honour could be said to have fallen to Alibhai, a son of Hyperion who was sold as a yearling in 1939 to race in the USA. He reportedly broke the track record at Santa Anita for four furlongs in training before suffering a career-ending injury while still unraced, but he subsequently became one of the best stallions in the States, most notably siring 1954 Kentucky Derby winner Determine. Alibhai was one of two Hyperion colts bred by the Aga Khan Studs who became leading sires in the States, the other being Khaled, responsible for 61 stakes winners headed by the mighty Swaps.
French Foundations
By this stage, the bulk of the Aga Khan III's British string was trained in Fitzroy House in Newmarket by Frank Butters, who had taken over the horses when their owner and Dick Dawson had parted company in 1931. That was one of two major changes to the Aga Khan III's operation that year. The other concerned the French studs. From the outset, the Aga Khan III had set great store by the dosage system of pedigree analysis formulated by Lt-Colonel Jean-Joseph Vuillier. The two men never actually met until 1925 but, when they did, the Aga Khan III immediately hired him as his breeding advisor and manager of his stud farms in France. The latter held the position until his death in 1931, when Vuillier's protégé Robert Muller was put in the charge of the farms while Madame Vuillier continued to provide advice.
The new partnership of the Aga Khan III and Frank Butters was an instant success, a glorious season in 1932 highlighted by two British Classic victories. Udaipur won the Oaks and Coronation Stakes, while Firdaussi won the St Leger and the Jockey Club Stakes. Butters ran four of the Aga Khan's horses in the St Leger and they finished first, second, fourth and fifth.
Greater glories were soon to follow, most notably via two of the greatest Derby winners: Bahram and Mahmoud. Each holds a particular place in the record books.
To this day, only two horses have won the British Triple Crown and subsequently retired unbeaten: Ormonde in 1886 and Bahram in 1935. Bahram and his half-brother Dastur were sons of the Friar Marcus mare Friar's Daughter, who bred 11 winners including Fille d'Amour (who finished fourth in the Oaks in 1929 and subsequently bred the 1943 Irish Derby winner The Phoenix) and Sadri who, exported to South Africa after failing to win in Britain, won the Durban July Handicap in 1941.
Mahmoud's claim to fame is that he set a new record time for the Derby (2:33.8) when scoring in 1936. That record stood for 59 years until Lammtarra won the race in 2:32.31. Mahmoud was a son of Mumtaz Mahal's Gainsborough filly Mah Mahal, who also bred Mah Iran (dam of Migoli, winner for the Aga Khan III and Butters of 11 races including the Dewhurst Stakes, the Eclipse Stakes and Champion Stakes in 1947; and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1948) and Petite Etoile's dam Star Of Iran.
Nasrullah The Wartime Hero
In the years leading up to the Second World War, the Aga Khan III greatly reduced his involvement owing to the uncertain wider global outlook. In 1938 he sold 18 yearlings at Tattersalls and 17 in Deauville, but still made the occasional purchase. Most notably, that autumn he bought a colt by Hyperion out of the Friar Marcus mare Sister Stella. Named Stardust, he was one of two top juveniles in 1939, winning Britain's most valuable two-year-old race (the National Breeders' Produce Stakes at Sandown) while the homebred Turkhan (a son of Bahram and Theresina) won the Coventry Stakes at Ascot. The following season Turkhan won the St Leger and Irish Derby, while Stardust finished second in both the 2,000 Guineas and St Leger. In time, Stardust's legacy became secure thanks to his son Star Kingdom, a breed-shaping stallion in Australia.
Far and away the most distinguished horse raced by the Aga Khan III during the Second World War, however, was Nasrullah. Wartime restrictions meant that Nasrullah raced only on Newmarket's July Course adjacent to the Heath on which he was trained. If one were being charitable, one could say that Nasrullah knew the area too well because he quickly learned that trying hard in his races was voluntary. His record was good but it was generally felt that had his resolution matched his ability he would have been a true champion and very possibly a Triple Crown winner. Ultimately, though, Phil Bull's observation in Best Horses of 1943 turned out to have been very prescient: “If conformation and innate ability count for anything he may make the name for himself as a stallion which his unfortunate temperament prevented his making for himself as a racehorse”.
As the war neared its conclusion, the pendulum swinging in favour of a return to normality in the allied countries, racing began the long journey back to health. In 1944 the Aga Khan III was able to enjoy the sterling efforts of his Butters-trained three-year-old Tehran, a son of Bois Roussel from the Solario mare Starfalla, in the wartime Triple Crown races: third in the 2,000 Guineas, second in the Derby and first in the St Leger. Also enjoying Tehran's success were the beneficiaries of the Indian Armies Comforts Fund as the Aga Khan had pledged at the outset of the war to donate all his winnings in England for the duration of the hostilities to this charity.
Another highlight in 1944 was the triumph of Umiddad in the Gold Cup (run on Newmarket's July Course early in July). In what was to be his last race, Umiddad gave his all for Gordon Richards to get the better of the previous year's Cesarewitch winner Bright Lady at the end a protracted battle. As a visibly exhausted Umiddad was walked around afterwards, the consensus of opinion among racegoers was that had Nasrullah possessed even half the determination of Umiddad, he would have shown himself to have been the best horse ever raced by the Aga Khan.
The Aga Khan III's best horse in the immediate post-war years was Migoli, a son of Bois Roussel from Mumtaz Mahal's Bahram granddaughter Mah Iran who excelled at both two and three before winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as a four-year-old in 1948. The Aga Khan III's smart bunch of homebred juveniles in 1947 included the Nasrullah colts Noor and Irish Derby winner Nathoo as well as the Nearco filly Masaka. The latter proved to be as frustrating as her paternal half-brother Nasrullah. She won the Oaks by six lengths but either side of that run just about refused to race in the 1,000 Guineas and refused to race altogether in the Coronation Stakes. Banished by Butters to Ireland, where she joined the Aga Khan's Irish trainer Hubert Hartigan, she won the Irish Oaks with her head in her chest, ridden by the National Hunt jockey Aubrey Brabazon.
That same year the Aga Khan III celebrated his fourth Derby victory, as part-owner of the Richard Carver-trained My Love, having bought a 50% share from the colt's breeder Leon Volterra for £15,000 after he had won the Prix Hocquart. This proved to be money well spent as My Love's next two races resulted in victories in the Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris.
The homebred two-year-old crop of 1949 was even more special, including Britain's best colt, Palestine, and best filly, Diableretta, a great granddaughter of Mumtaz Mahal. The former won his first six races, starting odds-on favourite each time. Diableretta was beaten on debut but then won her next seven races including the Queen Mary, July, Cherry Hinton and Molecomb Stakes.
Sadly, the 1940s ended on a very low note. Frank Butters had been a superb trainer for the Aga Khan III as well as “a very dear friend … for whom we all in my family have the greatest affection”. Towards the end of 1949, Butters was knocked off his bicycle in Newmarket's High Street. He survived but suffered irreparable brain damage that effectively ended his active life, although he lived for another eight years.
Tomorrow: A time of transition
The 100-year history of the Aga Khan Studs can be viewed via the online brochure.
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