Sinndar | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘I am Delighted That he has a Top Miler in Baaeed – I had Been Waiting for That’

Kick-starting a new weekly Q&A series in TDN Europe, former champion trainer John Oxx, whose spellbinding career will forever be remembered through his masterful handling of Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), Sinndar (Ire) (Grand Lodge) and Ridgewood Pearl (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), sat down with Brian Sheerin to talk all things racing and breeding. The dual Derby-winning trainer speaks about Epsom, how delighted he is that Sea The Stars has a top-notch miler in Baaeed and his life in retirement.

Brian Sheerin: There are few weeks in the Flat racing calendar quite like this one. It must evoke some special memories?

John Oxx: Of course it brings back great memories for us given we had two great horses-Sinndar and Sea The Stars-who were lucky enough to win the race. I didn't have many runners in the Derby over the years but it was a good race for us. There's always great excitement because the Derby comes up quite early in the year and most horses going into the race are not completely tested. They certainly haven't been tested over the distance, never mind the track. It's always a bit of a mystery and nobody knows for sure what will happen in the Derby which I think is part of the great appeal of the race. The pecking order has yet to be established and you can get surprises. On the first Saturday in June, the whole slate is wiped clean and the result is there for everyone to see as the Derby is usually won by the best horse. Suddenly, the whole story becomes a lot clearer, and that's what makes the Derby and the Oaks so exciting.

BS: What attributes do you need to win a Derby? I know Donnacha O'Brien was speaking about a good mentality being a huge asset which is why he is confident about a big run from Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}).

JO: Some people were advocating for the Derby to be run later in the year. There was debate in the industry paper about whether the date was correct or not. Of course, that is all nonsense because the whole point of the Derby is that it comes up early and that's what makes it a tougher test. The test, as Donnacha explained, is mental. For a horse to be ready to run in the Derby, to get a mile and a half early in June, to have run as a 2-year-old and have very little time off in the winter–none at all really–and then train through the early spring and put up with all that pressure. It's not meant to be easy. I didn't realise all it took to win a Derby until I had the responsibility of training a few horses to run in it and try and win it. The horses who can come through and win it, they have to be tougher, physically and mentally.

BS: Sinndar and Sea The Stars charted quite different paths to Epsom glory, didn't they?

JO: Yes. Sinndar was always a nice horse, a lovely looking horse with a marvellous temperament and he won his maiden before just scraping home in the G1 National S. as a juvenile. He looked to me like a horse who might run a place in a Derby–he was lazy at home and didn't look like a horse who had the brilliance to win the race. However, while he was still lazy at home as a 3-year-old, he went to the Ballysax at Leopardstown with a seven-pound penalty and got beaten by a race-fit rival [Grand Finale (Ire) (Sadler's Wells)], but I came home from the races that day thinking Sinndar could win the Derby. He was much better than what he had been showing at home, much better than I thought he was. He won the Derrinstown Derby Trial by a neck, but again he was carrying a seven-pound penalty for his Group 1 win at two, and beat a good horse of Aidan's [O'Brien] called Bach (Ire). Sinndar was deceptive. Every time he ran he got better and his rating jumped. That's the way he was right through the year. We had gotten to know him by the autumn and we really fancied him for the Arc.

Sea The Stars was a different kettle of fish altogether. We could see the potential brilliance even when he was a big 2-year-old who was always going to develop with the benefit of time. He did well as a 2-year-old to win the G2 Beresford S. and we knew he had plenty of speed and class so we had to let him take his chance in the Guineas. It was a great achievement for him to win at Newmarket because he had a high temperature on Mar. 17 and, to overcome that and then come out and win the Guineas, I think the sparkle was only coming back the week of the race but he still won it comfortably. I know he held a little back in his homework, but you could see that he was a brilliant horse at home who had that mental strength and physical constitution to get over that temperature, win the Guineas and then come out a few weeks later and win at Epsom. He had more ability than you ever expect to find in a horse.

BS: Both horses went on to win the Arc in the autumn. It might be in your instinct to try and deflect praise here but, there is obviously huge skill involved in keeping a 3-year-old colt sweet from the spring right through to the end of the autumn. You did it twice. What was your secret?

JO: The secret is to have a very good horse! You can't burn the candle at both ends with horses if you want them to go on to the end of their 3-year-old year. Sinndar had two runs as a 2-year-old and Sea The Stars had three runs as a 2-year-old but they didn't have a gruelling juvenile campaign. They just did enough and gained enough experience. They were ready for their big engagements at three and were just good horses that were trained appropriately. What I mean by that is, Sinndar had his little break after winning the G1 Irish Derby, as that's what His Highness wanted. That's the way the French do it, they get as far as the French Derby and then rest the horse before giving them a trial before the Arc. That was the modus operandi of his highness at the time so that's what we did.

Obviously Sea The Stars was different. He had the brilliance to do it but he also had the physical constitution and the mental strength. He had everything. After he won the Guineas and the Derby, we knew he was one of the greats but to prove it, he had to run up a sequence of major races right throughout the season. Luckily we were able to get him through it and we just had to keep him healthy and keep him in a nice routine. The key is keeping them calm and happy in their work and not overfacing them. They have to enjoy their working life and then they will keep performing for you.

BS: I was struck by another comment you made once. You said that it was the everyday training of Sea The Stars that was the real pleasure. The race days were just pure relief

JO: Oh yes, it was a great privilege to train high-class horses. That's what keeps trainers going. That's what gets trainers up out of bed in the day. We felt with Sea The Stars in particular that, although it was a great responsibility and there were anxious times, it was also a great privilege and I certainly appreciated it. Sea The Stars was just a magnificent-looking creature. Just watching him, his behaviour and his attitude towards his work, being there looking at him every day and at evening stables, feeling his legs and then just standing back and admiring him, it was just a great pleasure. Yes, the race days were just a relief to see him go by the post in front. When it was all over and he'd won the Arc, I just sat down and I said, 'wow, imagine that. Imagine having a horse like that through your hands.' It was a mixture of tremendous relief, satisfaction and gratitude.

BS: Sea The Stars had brilliance over a range of different trips and we are seeing that through his progeny. Do you get much pleasure out of watching his sons and daughters on the track?

JO: I do, of course. He was a great horse with a great pedigree and he almost couldn't fail as a stallion. But we have seen horses disappoint at stud who had a lot of qualities. When they have that combination of great ability, good looks and pedigree, like Frankel has, too, it's nearly impossible for them not to be successful. I'm delighted to see him now with a top miler in Baaeed (GB) because I had been waiting for that. He's had good horses at a mile, plenty of them, but to get a real star miler like Baaeed, it's something I had been waiting for as Sea The Stars was a Guineas winner himself. Distance was no problem for him. He could have sprinted, he could have gone a mile, he could have gone two miles if he wanted to. He just had that superior engine and it's great to see him with Baaeed. From what I read, Baaeed seems to have his father's temperament as well. I watch the results all the time to see what's coming along for Sea The Stars.

BS: Have you any thoughts on the fact that Crystal Ocean (GB), one of his most talented sons, was not given a chance to prove himself as a Flat stallion?

JO: It's an unfortunate state of affairs that very good horses are shunned by breeders because they're mile-and-a-half winners or, in their eyes, were slow maturing. It's the way of the world at the moment and we can't do a lot to change it. Everyone is aware of the importance in keeping stamina in the breed and keeping those genes alive. There have been some changes made to the racing programme, giving better opportunities to horses in the staying category and boosting prize-money for those races, to try over a period of time to make yearlings who are bred to stay that little bit more popular in the sales ring.

The reason why people want sharp, early 2-year-olds is perfectly understandable. There are good commercial reasons for trainers and bloodstock agents to buy something sharp that might get a quick result for their owners. You can understand why owners would want it as well. You can't change that and I'm not saying we should. We just need to keep an eye on the distance as well because the thing about distance is that, horses race with their lungs and their cardiovascular system, and the superior athletes are the ones with the best respiratory system and the best cardiovascular system. That's the engine. The horses with the big engine have speed with more stamina. They don't stop.They keep going. That comes from their genes. If you don't breed for that, the gene pool is being diminished. If you just go for sprinters and nothing else, over time, the quality of the product will diminish. We are competing on the international stage and you'd like the product here to remain competitive here.

BS: Is there a certain jurisdiction that we should aspire to be like?

JO: We have to heed what is staring us in the face, which is the success of the Japanese horses. It has been there for several years but it has become obvious to a wider audience recently. In Japan, most of the bigger races are run over longer distances and up to two miles. The stallion farms are populated by horses who won these straying races, raced on as 4- and 5-year-olds and had plenty of races. They are producing some of the world's best horses every year. I read the TDN's report on last Sunday's Japanese Derby which stated that the first two horses home ran the last three furlongs in :33.6 seconds. To do that at the end of one and a half miles shows real quality. Speed and stamina equals a big engine and those are the genes that you would like to keep in the Thoroughbred.

BS: When you are speaking about horses who stay the trip I can't help but think about the Triple Crown. How close did you come to aiming Sea The Stars at the Triple Crown and were there ever any regrets that you didn't?

JO: It would be a dream to train a Triple Crown winner. It was marvellous to see Nijinsky II (Northern Dancer) do it and he was one of my heroes. To think that I would have had a chance to win the Triple Crown with Sea The Stars and that I'd dismiss it pretty quickly when I had the chance to do it is amazing really because I would have grown up thinking it would be the ultimate achievement for a horse. However, the owner was not keen on the idea for a start and, while I was given a free hand to train the horse as if he were mine, I knew their feelings. It would have been a formality for him. He would have followed them around at the rear and skirted past them at the end because great horses like that, as I have said, if they have a big engine like he did, distance does not matter. They just keep going. They don't stop and an extra couple of furlongs doesn't make any difference to them.

The commercial market wouldn't agree but winning the Triple Crown really does mean something when it comes to assessing a horse's capabilities but we're not going to see many of them in Europe again. It's still possible, with all the good stallions we have capable of siring such horses, but will we ever see one? As it turned out, running in the Irish Champion S. was his only chance to run in Ireland, having missed the Irish Derby due to the weather, and he beat a good field and actually won by a bit of distance that day, which he normally didn't. He normally just did enough. He earned his highest rating that day so it worked out better for the horse in the end.

BS: The Triple Crown remains a hot topic in America. They are suggesting tampering with the dates of the races. I know you have some views against that.

JO: Just because something is difficult to win and not many horses can do it, that's not a good reason to change it. Making it easier to achieve isn't necessarily the right thing to do as it's supposed to be tough and it's supposed to be a test. I think most people realise that. The Triple Crown in America is tough to win but it's been done many times and is still achievable. It also goes back to my earlier points on stamina. The Americans like speed but they also want to see their horses carry their speed around two turns and stay the gruelling 10 furlongs of the Kentucky Derby. It is still every American owner's dream to win the Kentucky Derby.

BS: Getting back to the Derby, what do you make of this year's race?

JO: As usual, it's all up for grabs on Saturday and we don't know what's going to happen. Desert Crown (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) looks a very worthy favourite. He was an impressive 2-year-old winner but has just had the one run this year. I am sure Sir Michael would have liked to get two runs into him this year, but he seems to be happy with him and he knows what he's doing. I also liked Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) at Leopardstown where he won easily. He's a battle-hardened warrior who has had enough runs as a 2-year-old and seems to have done well from two to three with two good wins under his belt this year. I like the look of him because he's so experienced. There are other good horses in there so it should be exciting to watch.

BS: How do you approach Derby week now that you are retired?

JO: I am happy to sit at home and watch it on television. I am not a frustrated trainer. I am happy to be watching and not having to worry about it. It used to be an anxious time and I am not sorry to be away from the anxiety of the whole thing.

BS: It could be another big weekend for Sea The Stars with Emily Upjohn (GB). John Gosden has been quoted as comparing her to Taghrooda (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). She appears to have outstanding claims in the Oaks.

JO: She does and if John is comparing her favourably to Taghrooda that's a big recommendation. They are different types of fillies. Taghrooda was a lovely medium-sized filly, as far as I remember, and while I haven't seen Emily Upjohn in the flesh, I believe she is quite big. Obviously she is a fluent mover and is well balanced. I hope she is as good as Taghrooda because she was a smashing filly.

BS: Emily Upjohn's story is quite an interesting one and proves that Classic contenders can slip through the net.

JO: Yes. She was in Book 2 at Newmarket and I believe she was a very big yearling. She was good looking and moved well and must have had plenty of good qualities if Tom Goff bought her. People don't like them too big and don't want them to take too much time and she just wasn't commercial, even though she has a very good pedigree on the dam's side, one of the Aga Khan's best families. She was certainly very well bought at the price regardless of her recent good form. Everyone will look at it now and think they were asleep that day!

BS: You can't really mention the Derby without speaking about Lester Piggott. How did you remember him when you heard the sad news of his passing on Sunday?

JO: Lester was a one-off and will always be most closely associated with Epsom where his great skill was best advertised. People tried to copy his style and he put a whole generation of young jockeys on the wrong path as they all wanted to ride short like him but none of them were able to do it. He was a great jockey with brilliant instincts. He'd nerves of steel and was so focussed and determined. He just had that mental grit and went from one race to the next without letting success or failure have any affect on him. People were very interested in him not only because he was a great jockey but because he didn't talk much and kept a poker face which made him mysterious and added to his charisma.

BS: You have retired but your famous Curragbeg Stables remain a soundtrack to horses

JO: Yes. We are delighted to have John and Jody O'Donoghue here. They have started well and have a small string, nearly all of which are 2-year-olds. In fact, I think he has only one 3-year-old, and he has managed to win with that already. He has one nice early 2-year-old and he has won with that as well. They are a very capable and able couple and I am very impressed by the way that John is going about the job and the decisions that he's making and the way that he's running the place. I think they have a great future and we are looking forward to being a part of it all with them.

BS: And what is driving John Oxx?

JO: I have always been very interested in the breeding side of things and, now that I am retired, I have more time to keep up with what is going on around the world. I read a lot more and am a big fan of TDN. It's a great publication. I enjoy having that little bit more time. I am also very fortunate that Kirsten Rausing asked me to do some work for her at Staffordstown Stud and it's a great pleasure to go up there and be involved in her operation. I am very lucky that she asked me to become involved. She had a tremendous year in 2021, particularly with Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) winning three Group 1 races, and Sandrine (GB) (Bobby's Kitten), who has already run well in the 1000 Guineas, so we are really looking forward to her this season as well. Just rewards in all her efforts in building up her families.

The post ‘I am Delighted That he has a Top Miler in Baaeed – I had Been Waiting for That’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

A Century of Excellence, Part III

Our concluding part of the series reflecting on one hundred years of the Aga Khan Studs begins in the 1980s with the rise of the legendary Shergar and incorporates some of the most celebrated horses of the modern era, as well as a special anniversary for HH the Aga Khan IV. The text is reproduced by kind permission from the Aga Khan Studs' centenary brochure, written by Emma Berry and John Berry.

Shergar's birth came in the year that HH the Aga Khan IV decided to renew his family ties with racing horses in Britain, and the colt was among the second batch of yearlings sent by the breeder to Sir Michael Stoute in Newmarket.

His Highness continued his run of champion owner titles in France in 1980 and 1981, the latter being a particularly noteworthy year for him on the English turf, too.

The 10-length winner of the Classic Trial at Sandown, Shergar was even more imperious when winning the Chester Vase by 12 lengths, foreshadowing the manner of his emphatic victory at Epsom.

“There's only one horse in it, you need a telescope to see the rest,” was the famous call as Shergar was sent clear in the Derby by the 19-year-old Walter Swinburn.

He followed up with further dominant performances in the Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes but was retired ahead of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe following a mystifyingly lacklustre run when fourth in the St Leger.

Syndicated by his breeder to stand at Ballymany Stud in Ireland, Shergar's subsequent kidnapping after just one year at stud remains one of the sport's saddest episodes.

From Mathet To Royer Dupré

While the English racing wing was resurgent, it was a time of change in France.

François Mathet sent over Vayrann to win the 1981 Champion Stakes at Newmarket, the same year that his fellow three-year-old Akarad, who had been part the group of horses purchased from Marcel Boussac, won the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and the Prix Niel.

By Boussac's own stallion Labus, Akarad was the first foal of the breeder's Prix de Malleret winner Licata. The daughter of Abdos further highlighted her own value within the Aga Khan Studs' broodmare band while giving another ringing endorsement to HH the Aga Khan IV's decision to buy Boussac's bloodstock when her second foal and Akarad's full-sister, Akiyda, won the following year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. This was to prove a poignant victory for it was the final major winner saddled by Mathet for his leading owner. A little over three months later, the great trainer died, in January 1983, at the age of 74.

His passing gave way to one of the most enduring partnerships within the Aga Khan Studs operation when Mathet's former assistant Alain de Royer Dupré succeeded him in training His Highness's horses in France, having previously trained some of the second string in the provinces. This arrangement has continued until Royer Dupré's retirement at the end of 2021.

The trainer's tenure was instantly successful. In 1983, Sharaya delivered the first of seven wins in the Prix Vermeille for her breeder, while Masarika won the Prix Robert Papin en route to landing the following year's Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. She provided the first half of a French Classic double for Royer Dupré and HH the Aga Khan IV which was completed by Darshaan, who led home perhaps the most breed-shaping trifecta in modern-day thoroughbred breeding in the Prix du Jockey Club, with Sadler's Wells second and Rainbow Quest third.

The champion three-year-old in France, Darshaan went on to stand at Gilltown Stud in Ireland, but he was again a champion in France when he became the leading sire there in 2003. Most significantly for his breeder, this was chiefly thanks to his son Dalakhani, the European Horse of the Year. Darshaan is perhaps more widely recognised as an influential broodmare sire, and was twice champion in this category in Britain and Ireland.

HH the Aga Khan IV and Royer Dupré were also involved in a significant first for Europe in the inaugural Breeders' Cup meeting at Hollywood Park in 1984. Sent to California on the back of his victory in the Prix du Conseil du Paris, Lashkari lined up at odds of 53/1 for the Breeders' Cup Turf. The three-year-old had run just twice prior to this, but came with a late surge to defeat 1983 Horse of the Year All Along and become the first of many European raiders to secure victory at America's 'Thoroughbred World Championships'.

The Blending Of Bloodlines

Having started with Top Ville in 1979, HH the Aga Khan IV's affinity with the Prix du Jockey Club continued, with Darshaan being followed the next year by victory for Mouktar, while Akarad's son Natroun again carried the famous green-and-red silks to glory in 1987.

Punctuating this run of success in the French Derby was Shahrastani, a second winner of the Derby at Epsom for Stoute and HH the Aga Khan IV who famously conquered Dancing Brave in 1986 before going on to an easy win in the Irish Derby.

In 1982, HH the Aga Khan IV had blended the Boussac and Dupré bloodlines by sending Darshaan's dam Delsy to Top Ville, with the resultant filly being named Darara. Sent into training with Royer Dupré, she was notably small but her lack of scope was no barrier to success. Darara went on to win the 1987 Prix Vermeille before finishing sixth in a strong field for the Arc.

She has also made a notable impact at stud, though not solely for her breeder. As is the policy of all major breeding operations, some reduction of stock must take place each year, and Darara was offered for sale in 1994. She has since become the cornerstone of Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber's Watership Down Stud, with her most notable offspring being the Group 1 winners Darazari, Rewilding and Dar Re Mi.

By 1988, HH the Aga Khan IV had broadened his racing reach and decided to have some horses trained in Ireland, following the example of his father and grandfather. John Oxx received his first batch of yearlings from the breeder in 1988.

That same year saw more notable Classic success in Britain and Ireland. Aga Khan III had enjoyed the first of his three 2000 Guineas winners in 1924 with Diophon, while Prince Aly Khan triumphed in 1959 with Taboun. The success continued when HH the Aga Khan IV won the 1988 running with Doyen.

Further success on the English turf was just around the corner as the following month Kahyasi became his breeder's third winner of the Derby, but this time for a new trainer, Luca Cumani. The Ile De Bourbon colt carried the second colours of green-and-chocolate hoops as Doyoun also ran in the race, finishing third.

From an Epsom high in 1988 came a low a year later when Darshaan's daughter Aliysa finished first past the post in the Oaks but was disqualified after testing positive for a camphor derivative. The race was awarded to Snow Bride, who gained further notoriety as the dam of Lammtarra, while Aliysa would go on to produce the Horris Hill and Craven Stakes winner Desert Story. She is also the grand-dam of the dual Group 1 winner Alamshar.

A Successful Selection Process

In Philip Jodidio's book chronicling 50 years of the breeding operation of HH the Aga Khan IV, Alain de Royer Dupré comments, “The broodmare band of the Aga Khan is magnificent, it is a jewel created since the time of his grandfather.”

As the recipient of so many of the offspring of this treasured group of mares, the trainer is in a better position than most to make an assessment of the breeder's endeavours.

He says, “The success of the racing and breeding activities of the Aga Khan is actually based on the excellence of each element of the process, from breeding decisions, to facilities, training, jockeys and the personal implication of His Highness the Aga Khan, and to an increasing degree Princess Zahra Aga Khan.”

Continuity has been the key to the development of the Aga Khan Studs, and its motto 'Success breeds success' can be applied to both the human and equine participants.

From the Aga Khan III, to the all-too-brief tenure of Prince Aly Khan, through to the sustained support of his son, the baton has been passed with an assuredness which has guaranteed the longevity of a project born of passion. HH the Aga Khan IV has also been able to count on the great enthusiasm and deep knowledge of his eldest daughter, Princess Zahra, who celebrated a first winner in her own colours in 1996, when Daralbayda won in June at Saint-Cloud. Though the daughter of Doyoun will remain memorable for that reason alone, she went on to bring even greater joy to the Princess as the grand-dam of her first Classic winner, Darjina.

Throughout this period, HH the Aga Khan IV had temporarily withdrawn from British racing, but his runners continued to be in the ascendant, particularly in France where the Classic winners poured in.

Classic Roll Of Honour Expanded

Between 1993 and 1999, he was represented by four winners of the Prix de Diane in Shemaka, Vereva, Zainta, and Daryaba, with the first three being by the Aga Khan stallions Nishapour and Kahyasi. Zalaiyka brought up a fillies' Classic double in 1998 with Zainta, a great grand-daughter of Petite Etoile, when winning the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, while through that time the Poule d'Essai des Poulains went to the Aga Khan runners Ashkalani (1996), Daylami (1997) and Sendawar (1999). The middle one of that trio, Daylami, went on to be one of the stand-out older horses of his generation following his sale to Godolphin over the winter between his three- and four-year-old seasons, adding another six Group/Grade 1 wins to his name, including the Champion Stakes, Coronation Cup and Breeders' Cup Turf.

Sendawar continued racing for his breeder and won four consecutive Group 1 races, taking the St James's Palace Stakes, Prix du Moulin and Prix d'Ispahan.

Classic success was not restricted to France. On just her fourth start for John Oxx, Ebadiyla won the 1997 Irish Oaks before landing the Prix Royal-Oak, with Tiraaz following up in the 'French St Leger' a year later.

Ebadiyla's family was rampant in the late 1990s. Her dam Ebaziya, by Darshaan, was mated successfully with Kahyasi, and that deep Aga Khan Studs breeding resulted in Enzeli, who landed the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in 1999, the season after another of the mare's offspring, Edabiya (Rainbow Quest), had won the Moyglare Stud Stakes. With her final foal of 2009, Ebaziya would provide one of the most memorable Royal Ascot moments of the modern era, when her daughter Estimate, who had been presented as a gift to Her Majesty The Queen by HH the Aga Khan IV, became the family's second Gold Cup winner.

One Simple Purpose

In outlining the approach of the Aga Khan Studs, Princess Zahra Aga Khan told Philip Jodidio, “We don't breed for any purpose other than simply improving the families and the racing stock.”

This non-commercial outlook must nevertheless attempt to break even and towards the end of the last century the Bloodstock Management Team was formed to ensure the continuation, balance and development of these practices. Princess Zahra Aga Khan is a key member of this team, along with Pat Downes, who has run the Irish studs since 1999. Georges Rimaud has managed the French studs since 2000, and Nemone Routh is the equally important fourth member of the quartet, based at Aiglemont in Chantilly.

Just as this team was getting into its stride in order to take the operation into the 21st century, along came a two-year-old who would go on to dominate his Classic generation in Europe. Sinndar, whose forebears are rippled through the broodmare band, was viewed by his trainer John Oxx as “the perfect racing model”. For his breeder this would have been hugely satisfying for the neat colt was not only the result of five generations of careful selection on his dam's side, but features Lashkari, a son of one of his favourite influences, Mill Reef, as his damsire, while Top Ville appears as the sire of his grand-dam.

In just two juvenile starts in 1999, Sinndar, only ever ridden by stable jockey Johnny Murtagh, remained unbeaten, leaping from maiden winner to Group 1 winner in one fell swoop. His victory in the National Stakes on 19 September was particularly apposite as the race was sponsored by Aga Khan Studs at the Curragh, to which the owner/breeder has given so much support over the decades.

As the new millennium approached, HH the Aga Khan IV, John Oxx and Johnny Murtagh had plenty to dream about over the winter, and the “perfect horse” would ensure that those dreams were not left unfulfilled.

Two Dominant Colts Of The New Millennium

Sinndar's three-year-old season is by now the stuff of legend. The only time he was beaten in his life was on his seasonal debut when second by a head in the Ballysax Stakes. Thereafter he maintained a perfect score, winning the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial before conquering Epsom and going on to glory in the Irish Derby just metres from where he was trained. Sinndar then took the Prix Niel en route to becoming his breeder's second winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. His stallion career began the following season at Gilltown Stud.

While he played the starring role in 2000, Sinndar was not the only top-level performer as two sons of Doyoun kept the international Group 1 victories rolling in. Kalanisi held off Montjeu to win the Champion Stakes at Newmarket and then followed up in the Breeders' Cup Turf, while Daliapour, out of Darshaan's half-sister Dalara, won both the Coronation Cup and Hong Kong Vase.

From such a strong start to the millennium with a particularly outstanding colt, it wasn't long before another, this time in France, would closely follow Sinndar's extraordinary success. Dalakhani, a son of Darshaan and the listed-winning Miswaki mare Daltawa, broke his maiden at Deauville in August 2002 and picked up the Prix des Chenes before finishing his two-year-old season with a Group 1 win in the Critérium International.

Maintaining his faultless run towards Prix du Jockey Club glory, he added the Prix Greffulhe and Prix Lupin to his repertoire. With such a record behind him, it was no surprise to see Dalakhani sent off as the odds-on favourite for the Irish Derby, but was undone only by HH the Aga Khan IV's other runner, Alamshar, who had finished third in the Derby to Kris Kin. Providing a rare moment in modern times that the green-and-chocolate hooped colours were seen in the winner's enclosure, the Irish-trained Alamshar won his home Classic with Dalakhani half a length behind him in second. Normal order was restored for the latter when he emulated Sinndar by taking the Longchamp autumn double of the Prix Niel followed by the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe before joining the Aga Khan Studs stallion roster.

Alamshar added further lustre to a magnificent season for the Aga Khan Studs team when beating the previous year's Prix du Jockey Club winner Sulamani in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Each passing year of the new century brought fresh success. Azamour, third in the 2000 Guineas and then second in the Irish 2000 Guineas, gained his Group 1 laurels in the St James's Palace Stakes followed by the Irish Champion Stakes. He remained in training at four to win the Prince of Wales's Stakes in 2005, the year Royal Ascot was transferred to York, and he took the similarly relocated King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Newbury.

That same year, Shawanda, from the first crop of Sinndar, won the Irish Oaks and the Prix Vermeille, while a trio of Group 1 winners was reaped by another shrewd purchase of the entire operation of a successful owner/breeder. The man in question was the visionary Jean-Luc Lagardère. HH the Aga Khan IV's acquisition of his land and 222 horses included the breeder's prized stallion Linamix and Haras d'Ouilly, which had previously been owned by Francois Dupré but was not bought at the time his horses were purchased some 30 years earlier.

The Lagardère-bred Group 1 winners Vadawina, Valixir and Carlotamix carried the Aga Khan colours that first year after the deal was made. Montmartre and Sageburg would reinforce this successful purchase, as would the Lagardère broodmares as they were assimilated down the years with the stock of the Aga Khan Studs.

Princess Zahra Makes Her Mark

At this time, too, Princess Zahra Aga Khan's own successful breeding operation was coming to the fore within the wider fold of the Aga Khan Studs. From the minor winner Mandalara she bred Mandesha, the victrix of three Group 1 races in 2006.

Then from one of the two original fillies given to the Princess by her father descends her 2007 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner Darjina, who later that season also took the Prix d'Astarté and Prix du Moulin.

For HH the Aga Khan IV, another Zahra, the mare who was foaled just four years after his daughter was born, would play a significant role in arguably his greatest achievement to date as a thoroughbred breeder. The equine Zahra, born in 1974, was the only living filly foal of Petite Etoile and thus an extremely precious gem. Four decades and four generations on from her birth, a filly by Zamindar and Zahra's great grand-daughter Zarkasha (by Kahyasi) was born in Ireland. Bestowed with the name Zarkava and sent into training with Alain de Royer Dupré, she made just seven starts in her two spotless seasons of racing, showing all the verve of a filly of the very highest calibre. Five of her seven victories came at Group 1 level, with her two Classic wins in France being followed by the Prix Vermeille and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, a sequence that saw her named Horse of the Year in 2008.

His Highness said simply of Zarkava at the time, “She is the greatest reward a breeder could have.”

That is undoubtedly true, but he was also to be rewarded significantly the following year by an extraordinary haul of seven Group races across the Arc weekend in Paris.

The juveniles Siyouni, whose name would go on to have deeper resonance on the European breeding scene, and Rosanara, by Sinndar, won the Group 1 contests named in honour of the great breeders whose efforts now enhanced the Aga Khan Studs – the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère and Prix Marcel Boussac.

Shalanaya, trained by one of the Aga Khan's younger French trainers, Mikel Delzangles, took the Prix de l'Opera; Varenar triumphed in the Prix de la Foret, while Alandi won the Prix du Cadran. Adding to that haul were the Group 2 wins of Daryakana and Manighar.

That year's Arc may have eluded the Aga Khan Studs but the team would soon become well acquainted with the winner, Sea The Stars, whose owner/breeders Ling and Christopher Tsui agreed to stand their champion in Ireland at Gilltown Stud.

A Major Milestone

In 2010, HH the Aga Khan IV celebrated 50 years at the helm of his family's world-renowned operation. From a beginning filled with doubt as he grappled with the intricacies of the singular pursuit that is thoroughbred breeding, he could look back from that notable landmark with the foundations of the racing and breeding empire fully revitalised and operating at the peak of its powers.

In the ensuing decade many more highlights have been forthcoming. Harzand presented his breeder with a fifth win in the Derby at Epsom and a first for his trainer and jockey Dermot Weld and Pat Smullen. It is a moment made more poignant in hindsight by the death in 2020 of the much-loved multiple Irish champion jockey at the age of just 43.

Top-class fillies are of course the bedrock of any stud farm, and the Group 1 tally has been enhanced through the last ten years by Prix de Diane victrix Valyra, and Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Vermeille winner Shareta, as well as Sarafina, Sagawara, Siyarafina, Ridasiyna, Dalkala, Dolniya and Vazira.

The Classic victory of Ervedya in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches opened an important new chapter as she became the first Group 1 winner from the first crop of her young sire Siyouni, who retired to Haras de Bonneval in 2011.

Ervedya went on to win the Coronation Stakes and Prix du Moulin, and she represents a potent blend of the Aga Khan and Lagardère bloodlines for Siyouni is a grandson of the latter's Slipstream Queen, and his dam Sichilla is also the grand-dam of Siyarafina, who became the latest Group 1 winner for HH the Aga Khan and Royer Dupré in France.

The hugely popular Vazirabad was an unusual runner for the breeder in that he was gelded early in his time with Royer Dupré. His longevity, harnessed to his talent, only enhanced his appeal with racing fans, and they had plenty of opportunities to support him during his 23 starts over four seasons, which yielded 15 victories, including the Prix Royal-Oak (twice) and the Prix du Cadran.

The most recent top-class colour-bearer is the Dermot Weld-trained Tarnawa, the first foal of the dual listed winner Tarana, whose four-year-old season in 2020 saw her clinch three consecutive Group/Grade 1 races, including a third success for His Highness in the Breeders' Cup Turf, as well as a second-placed finish in the 2021 Arc.

A Thriving Stallion Roster

In recent years, the stallion division of the Aga Khan Studs has been bolstered by the retirement of the Derby and Irish Derby winner Harzand to stand alongside his sire Sea The Stars at Gilltown. Meanwhile Siyouni has been joined at Haras de Bonneval by the Prix Ganay winner Dariyan, the son of Shamardal and Hong Kong Vase heroine Daryakana.

Even more special was the arrival of another Group 1 winner, Zarkava's son Zarak, by Dubawi. He has already hinted at his prowess in his second career as the leading freshman sire in France this year.

Siyouni, like his illustrious sire Pivotal, started his stud career at a relatively lowly level, and he was syndicated by the Aga Khan Studs. Now one of the most sought-after sires in Europe, he was crowned the champion sire of France for the second time in 2021. His son Sottsass won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2020. In 2021, Siyouni was responsible for Horse of the Year and dual Classic winner St Mark's Basilica.

Few major stallion studs in the world can boast a roster of largely homebred sires, but then few can depend upon the quality of stock that is regularly supplied by such a well-credentialed band of broodmares.

That this has remained the case for so long is to the credit of the painstaking management by the same family and their skilled team of advisors over the course of a century. A labour of love, if ever there was one.

In case you missed them, click the links to read part one and part two in the TDN, or the entire 100-year history of the Aga Khan Studs can be viewed via the online brochure.

The post A Century of Excellence, Part III appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Oxx Reflects On His Best

One day after announcing his retirement from training, John Oxx opened up about the decision to Sky Sports Racing and reflected on a few of the best he has handled.

“It’s not something you decide to do overnight–it’s been on our mind for a few years,” Oxx said. “Now seems the right time as we don’t really have enough horses to justify keeping going. It was a pretty easy decision to make as you have to have a viable business.

“Trainers love to keep going, of course–we like what we do. We probably all keep going longer than we should, but it was pretty clear to us now is the right time to stop. I had a big stable at one stage and we did well, but stables are getting bigger and bigger now, which does make life harder for other trainers and smaller trainers.”

Sea The Stars (Ire) was not only the greatest Oxx ever trained, but one of the best of all time.

“I was always happy to say he was one of the greats and that’s good enough for me,” Oxx said. “He is certainly one of the best ever on ratings–he was an incredible horse. I suppose the thing about Sea The Stars is you only ever saw 75 or 80% of what was in the tank. He always won comfortably and had plenty of gas left as he didn’t exert himself too hard. He’s one of those great horses that only comes along now and then–in a 100-year period you don’t see many horses like him and Frankel and Mill Reef and Nijinsky.”

Sea The Stars went a perfect six-for-six at three, all at Group 1 level, including the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Derby and culminating in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

“It was a terrific achievement for the horse, he had this tremendous energy and tremendous soundness and will to win. He had all the attributes you wanted,” said Oxx. “You couldn’t take on that sort of programme with every horse, but we knew this fellow had that unique constitution and would be able to do it if we didn’t have any bad luck with ground or an injury along the way. We knew he had the capability to do it and we wanted him to prove himself one of the greats. It’s no good talking about it, saying a horse is this good or that good, they have to go out and win. To finish up and pull it off in the Arc was fantastic and such a relief for us to get him there and have him fulfil his destiny.”

Sea The Stars pulled off the Arc/Derby double nine years after Oxx had accomplished it for the first time with Sinndar (Ire), who also took the G1 Irish Derby that season.

“He was a great horse,” Oxx said. “I thought coming into his 3-year-old season he might be a horse who would be placed in the Derby, but as soon as he ran his first race I knew there was a lot more there than was evident at home.

“He was a beautiful horse with a wonderful temperament and as tough as nails. Every time he ran he was five pounds better than the previous time and he just got sharper as he went through his 3-year-old year and stronger.

“Your grandmother would have ridden him out early in the year, but by the time it came to the Arc, you just had to watch him as he’d throw a jump and a kick–he wasn’t anybody’s ride in the end. He got stronger and more aggressive and more confident. That’s the way with those great horses, they’re never finished.”

The best filly to pass through Oxx’s hands was the globetrotting Ridgewood Pearl (GB), who won Group 1s in four countries.

“She was a really strong filly–masculine-looking with a terrific temperament,” Oxx recalled. “She was very consistent and always the same in her work and ate all her feed–she was a bit of a machine really. Sometimes those fillies that are very good– you’ve seen it with Enable recently–they’re just very tough and consistent and once they like racing they keep liking it. Ridgewood Pearl would go on any ground and nothing stopped her. She was a pleasure to train.”

The post Oxx Reflects On His Best appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

John Oxx To Retire From Training

This year we have become accustomed to things becoming very different. On Monday it was announced that we shall have to get used to something else: next year there will be no John Oxx training at Currabeg on the edge of The Curragh, with the legendary Irish trainer having revealed his intention to retire at the end of November.

Few readers of this publication will be able to recall such a situation, but even for those whose racing memories are restricted to some or all of the 42 seasons in which the current John Oxx has been at the helm of this most dependable of vessels, this truly is the end of an era.

John Oxx Sr began training in 1943 at the age of 33. Seven years later he bought Currabeg, and 70 years of sustained excellence in that iconic stable began. Oxx remained among the leaders of his profession for decades, most obviously being champion trainer in 1958. In those days Ireland was still very much the poor relation, few trainers regularly handling horses good enough to establish an international profile. Even so, John Oxx Sr nearly succeeded in keeping the first edition of the hugely enriched Irish Sweeps Derby at home when Arctic Storm (Ire) (Nearco {Ity}) failed by only inches against the French-trained Tambourine II at the Curragh in 1962. Arctic Storm’s wins that season included the Irish 2000 Guineas at The Curragh and the Champion S. at Newmarket, and the colt finished third to Match III (Fr) and Her Majesty’s Aurelius (GB) in the King George and Queen Elizabeth S. at Ascot.

From an early age, John Oxx Jr was destined to follow in his father’s footsteps. He prepared for the role by graduating from veterinary college and then assisting his father before taking over the license at Currabeg in advance of the 1979 season. He was aged 28 and his father was a year short of his 70th birthday. The time for transition was right.

John Oxx Sr’s final season was highlighted by the splendid campaign of the admirable filly Sorbus (Ire) (Busted {GB}), who was runner-up in all three legs of Ireland’s fillies’ Triple Crown, the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, G1 Irish Oaks and G1 Irish St Leger. She actually passed the post first in the Irish Oaks but was controversially demoted in favour of the Oaks winner Fair Salinia (Ire) (Petingo {GB}). The latter then beat Sorbus on merit the following month in the G1 Yorkshire Oaks. Oxx had bought Sorbus as a yearling for 15,500gns for Gerald Jenkins as a dual-purpose (racing and breeding) prospect, and his selection could hardly have been better. After her distinguished racing career she became a stellar broodmare, albeit for Prince Khalid Abdullah rather than Mr. Jenkins, with her descendants including Oasis Dream (GB) (Green Desert) and Kingman (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

The handover from father to son was seamless. To emphasise the aspect of continuity, Gerald Jenkins owned John Oxx Jr’s first Classic winner: Eurobird (Ire) (Ela-Mana-Mou {GB}), successful in the G1 Irish St Leger in 1987. Two years later, Oxx doubled his Classic tally by taking the same race with another 3-year-old filly when Petite Ile (Ire) (Ile De Bourbon) scored under the veteran Australian rider Ron Quinton, who was the stable jockey at Currabeg at the time.

During the subsequent three decades, Ireland’s racing has prospered to the extent that it now often seems to put Great Britain in the shade, a situation unthinkable for most of turf history. For much of this period, John Oxx stood at the forefront of his country’s training ranks, including when he became champion trainer in 1995, a season which can be regarded as the Year of Ridgewood Pearl, the greatest filly he has ever trained.

Bred by Sean Coughlan and raced by his wife Anne, Ridgewood Pearl (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) became the first of John Oxx’s true superstars. In a splendid season she proved herself an international champion with victories in the G1 Irish ,000 Guineas, G1 Coronation S., G1 Prix du Moulin and GI Breeders’ Cup Mile. She was ridden in the final three of those victories by Johnny Murtagh, who had served his apprenticeship with Oxx before becoming his stable jockey.

Five years later, Oxx and Murtagh combined to reach even greater heights when the Aga Khan’s homebred colt Sinndar (Ire) (Grand Lodge) won the greatest race in each of Europe’s three major racing nations: the G1 Derby at Epsom, the G1 Irish Derby at The Curragh and the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. To make that magical final day in Paris even more special, trainer and jockey also landed the sprint, the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye, with Lady Clague’s Namid (GB) (Indian Ridge {Ire}). Two years previously, Oxx had provided Lady Clague with Classic success when Winona (Ire) (Alzao) had won the G1 Irish Oaks.

Sinndar was merely one of numerous stars who passed through John Oxx’s hands during his lengthy period as trainer of HH Aga Khan IV’s Irish string. Other major winners whom he prepared for His Highness included 1993 G1 National S. winner Manntari (Ire) (Doyoun {GB}); 1996 GI Beverly D S. and G1 Irish Champion S. heroine Timarida (Ire) (Kalaglow {GB}); 1996 G1 Irish St Leger winner Kastoria (Ire) (Selkirk); 1997 G1 Irish Oaks heroine Ebadiyla (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells); 1998 G1 Moyglare Stud S. heroine Edabiya (Ire) (Rainbow Quest); 1999 G1 Ascot Gold Cup hero Enzeli (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}); 2003 G1 Irish Derby and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner Alamshar (Ire) (Key Of Luck); 2004 G1 St James’s Palace S. and G1 Irish Champion S. and 2005 G1 Prince of Wales’s S. and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. winner Azamour (Ire) (Night Shift); 2006 G1 Irish St Leger winner Kastoria (Ire) (Selkirk) and 2009 G1 Irish St Leger winner Alandi (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

It is hard to believe that John Oxx’s torrent of big-race winners has dried up in recent years, particularly because it seems like only yesterday that he gave us a training masterclass with his faultless handling of the mighty Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), arguably the greatest racehorse to be trained in Ireland since Triple Crown hero Nijinsky half a century ago. Bred and raced by the Tsui family, Sea The Stars rattled off a superb sequence of one Group 1 win a month from May to October through the spring, summer and autumn of 2009. By this time, Johnny Murtagh had moved on and Mick Kinane was bringing his splendid career to an end with a stint as stable jockey at Currabeg. During one of the greatest Classic campaigns ever seen on the turf, Oxx and Kinane brought Sea The Stars through the season unbeaten with a splendid six-timer comprising the G1 2000 Guineas, G1 Derby, G1 Eclipse S., G1 Juddmonte International, G1 Irish Champion S. and G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

It is now 41 years since John Oxx Sr, approaching 70, decided that it was time to pass the baton to his son. Now the son, who turned 70 in July, has too decided that it is time to retire. The name John Oxx has been synonymous with racing excellence for longer than most of us can remember, encapsulating everything that is good about the sport, from professionalism and diligence to honesty and loyalty.

It has not just been the records of the horses at Currabeg which attest to the trainer’s merit: Johnny Murtagh is merely one of many successful apprentices to have flourished under Oxx’s tuition. On Monday afternoon one of his proteges Cathy Gannon–who became Ireland’s first female champion apprentice in 2004 while working at Currabeg–tweeted, “Happy retirement to my mentor, father-like John Oxx. Got my career off to a start. Made me champion apprentice. One of the best trainers in the world. Respect.”

That final word perfectly sums up the career of John Oxx. Few trainers have been more successful than he has; none has earned more respect.

The post John Oxx To Retire From Training appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post