Zarkava | Horse Racing Free Tips

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.

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Zarak Makes Fast Start To Stud Career

When Aga Khan homebred Zarak (Fr) retired to stud at Haras de Bonneval in 2018, he boasted exemplary credentials: by the sire-making Dubawi (Ire), Zarak was a Group 1 winner out of the Aga Khan's great champion mare Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar).

Zarak did his best running at four when he won the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud over 2400 metres for trainer Alain de Royer Dupre, and therefore his first 2-year-olds in 2021 could have been somewhat forgiven should they have required time. They, however, most certainly did not. Zarak will wind down the year as France's leading first-season sire; he currently has 18 winners from 37 starters-from a first crop of 84 foals-and two stakes winners in Germany: the G3 Preis der Derbysiegers winner Lizaid (Ger) and the Listed Grosser Preis der Mehl-Mulhens-Stiftung scorer Parnac (Ire), both fillies. The best-known runner from Zarak's first crop, however, is Purplepay (Fr), a two-time winner who was third in the G1 Criterium International in October before selling to Roy and Gretchen Jackson of Lael Stables for €2-million at Arqana's December Sale to continue her racing career in America. While Purplepay appears unlikely for the French Classics, Zarak nonetheless goes into the winter with another potential leading light for ParisLongchamp and Chantilly: Allan Belshaw's homebred Times Square (Fr), who won on debut at Deauville in July and was second in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac.

Zarak retired among a competitive sire class in France, which was headed by the European champion 3-year-old Almanzor (Fr) and also included Group 1 winners Zelzal (Fr) and Al Wukair (Ire). But Georges Rimaud, longtime manager of Bonneval, said the confidence in Zarak began to build when his foals started hitting the ground.

“Zarak has been an expected success, because he kept covering a lot of mares every year,” Rimaud said. “Breeders were quite keen to go back to him every year, and that's generally a good indication. When he started to have winners early in the summer we started looking at him seriously, and we're very pleased with what he's done, having stakes winners in Germany, and Group 1 placings in France. With his pedigree, he suddenly appears as a very good prospect.”

On the surface Zarak may have appeared a later-developing sire prospect, but a close look would have revealed a horse with potential to hit the ground running. Zarak, after all, won his only start at two and was second behind Almanzor in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club. The unbeaten Zarkava won the Prix Marcel Boussac at two and swept the French fillies' Classics before winning the G1 Prix Vermeille and the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at three.

“He was not really expected to be a champion 2-year-old producer I suppose, but it should have been expected for them to run at two,” Rimaud reasoned. “I suppose the breeders also knew that he had won his Group 1 at four and they needed to bring precocious mares. The breeders did what they should have been doing, and I think we should have expected him to have what he had this year, and I think we got a little bit more.”

Zarak covered in the neighborhood of 120 mares in each of his first four seasons at stud, with his fee remaining steady at €12,000 throughout. In today's commercially driven market where fees and book sizes ebb and flow, sometimes dramatically, before a stallion even has runners, that is a noteworthy accomplishment, and stands Zarak in good stead to build on his strong start with his subsequent crops. Zarak is booked full for 2022 at 130 mares-from almost 200 applicants–with his fee upped to €25,000.

As is typical for the Bonneval stallions-which currently also include the country's champion sire Siyouni (Fr) and Dariyan (Fr)-Zarak is syndicated, which Rimaud said also helped keep the horse's numbers high.

“The shareholders really supported the horse very well with nice mares,” he said. “I feel syndication is important to ensure the support from breeders. And I think it provides a bit of help in selling nominations-you have the shareholders talking about the horse, rather than just us.”

Those shareholders are already being rewarded, too: a 1/50th share in Zarak was sold through Arqana Online for €380,000 last week, and another for €350,000 in November.

“It's always a nice surprise when a stallion does well, so on that level it is a surprise, but should we really be surprised?” Rimaud said. “Not really, because he's extremely well-bred and he's covered some nice mares, and a good number of them, and he's had the results he has had. Breeders are very keen to use him, and he's very full this year.”

Zarak is situated in the Bonneval stallion barn kitty-corner to the aforementioned Siyouni, France's most expensive stallion at €140,000 and the sire of six Group 1 winners including this year's joint highest-rated 3-year-old St Mark's Basilica (Fr). Though Zarak has a high mountain to climb to match the exploits of his barnmate, he is thus far on the right track and their accomplishments at the same stages of their careers are not dissimilar. Siyouni had 19 winners in his first season with runners, one more than Zarak thus far, and four stakes winners. Siyouni started at €7,000 and like Zarak remained at that fee through his first four seasons before going up to €20,000 in the year that he had his first 3-year-olds. He has been on an uninterrupted upward trajectory ever since and interestingly, breeders are already taking advantage of the Zarak/Siyouni cross: Times Square is out of the Siyouni mare See You Always (GB). Zarak represents an interesting opportunity for breeders, being free from Danehill and Sadler's Wells, and is among a growing number of Dubawi sons excelling at stud, that list also including Time Test (GB) from the same cohort as well as Night Of Thunder (Ire) and New Bay (GB).

“They're not similar stallions, but they've had similar results in the first year and let's hope Zarak takes the same road; that would be very, very nice,” Rimaud said. “But we'll stay modest and see what happens. Stallions are a funny, funny business, and people can get off them very quickly. But Zarak's yearling sales have also been very good, and he produces very nice-looking horses.”

As a successful sire out of one of the very best horses raced in the Aga Khan colours, Zarak's accomplishments must evoke a great sense of pride for the operation that celebrates its 100th year in the sport in 2022. Zarkava, indeed, is one of just two horses raced by the current Aga Khan to win four Group 1 races, the other being Blushing Groom (Fr), while the great Derby winners Shergar and Sinndar are among those to have collected three. Unlike her son, Zarkava did not get off to the most distinguished start at stud, with none of her first three foals making it to the races, but she has since made up for that with Zarak, her fourth foal, followed by the listed-winning and Group 1-placed Zarkamiya (Fr) (Frankel {GB}) and the listed-winning Zaykava (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). Both fillies are now ensconced in the Bonneval broodmare band alongside their dam: Zarkamiya produced a Medaglia d'Oro foal this year and is currently in foal to Siyouni, while Zaykava is in foal for the first time to Zarak's sire Dubawi. Zarkava had a Siyouni colt this year but will be rested in 2022.

“Zarkava is doing well,” Rimaud said. “She's not in foal this year; she was barren to Lope De Vega (Ire). But she has had 11 or 12 foals in a row, so she gets a well-deserved rest this year and then we'll decide who she goes to next year; we haven't done the matings yet. She is well, but she is getting on, so we need to preserve her a bit.”

“The Aga Khan said, when Zarkava won the Arc, that it epitomized his breeding operation,” Rimaud added. “And that's just the continuity of it, really. That's the goal, what we're about; raising good racehorses to become nice broodmares or good stallions. So I think he's obviously very, very pleased with it [Zarak's success]. But we still need support from people with nice mares, and hopefully he can follow in the tracks of Siyouni.

“Zarak comes from a very true Aga Khan family; he descends from Mumtaz Mahal. Next year, we are celebrating 100 years of the Aga Khan's breeding operation, so that comes at a good time. These pedigrees have been really nourished; those very good Aga Khan pedigrees always show something, so it's quite interesting that it will be 100 years next year, and Zarak's 3-year-olds will hopefully do well. So everything is coming into place.”

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Trainer Of Over 70 Grade 1 Winners, Alain De Royer-Dupre Bids For Fairytale Ending With Talented Ebaiyra

One of the great training careers of the modern era will officially come to an end on Dec. 31 when Alain de Royer-Dupre heads into retirement, the winner of more than 70 G1s around the world, including 19 French Classics.

The man who will be forever identified with the careers of a stellar trio in Dalakhani, Pride, and Zarkava, will send out Ebaiyra on Sunday (Dec. 12) in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m, or 1 1/2 miles).

All three of the aforementioned champions signed off with a valedictory success – Pride herself at Sha Tin in December, 2006 – and should Ebaiyra do the same then there could be no more fitting end for Royer-Dupre's own journey, 49 years after he saddled his first winner.

“We have the older Japanese horse Glory Vase who is obviously pretty good and I don't know how we measure up, but if Ebaiyra runs well it will be very satisfying,” says Royer-Dupre, who turned 77 in September. “It will put a full stop on my career and it's a great way to go out. It's possible she could be my final runner.”

For the last four decades Royer-Dupre has served as principal trainer to H H the Aga Khan and it is those famous emerald green silks that Christophe Soumillon will carry aboard Ebaiyra, who her handler hopes has rebounded from a mid-season blip and whose best form puts her right in the mix with Glory Vase, Pyledriver and Mogul among the international challengers for the HK$20 million (about US$2.57 million) LONGINES Hong Kong Vase.

“She ran poorly at Deauville in August and so I preferred to ease off on her at that stage,” says Royer-Dupre. “We hoped to run in the G1 Prix de l'Opera (2000m, 1 1/4 miles) but she hadn't come back to herself by then so we waited,” he said.

“Now she seems in much better form so this is a good target for her. She is fresh and well and it is a case of how she takes the trip. She didn't eat up very well when she first arrived but she has adapted well during the week.”

Seasoned work-watchers during LONGINES HKIR week are well used to the idea that many of the French visitors do their morning tours of Sha Tin in a leisurely low gear, and Royer-Dupre's horses have never excited the clockers in the run-up to the big day.

The 4-year-old daughter of Distorted Humor has been no different this week, lobbing around the sand in a relaxed manner, just as her half-sister Edisa did in 2019 before finishing fifth in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, six years after their dam Ebiyza was sixth in the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase.

Ebaiyra's work at Chantilly Racecourse last month was much smarter as she dropped two work companions on her way up the all-weather, while Royer-Dupre also gave her a blow on the revered Les Aigles turf gallop in the days before she left.

“We've had plenty of horses run well in Hong Kong on top of the two winners, they regularly run up to form,” he says. “My experience is that you work them normally before they travel and then only very lightly once they arrive. You want to give them the minimum, just to freshen them up, without looking for another proper piece of work. It's not worth trying to find out before the day.

Royer-Dupre adds: “If she can run up to the form she showed in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1) or even improve slightly, that would be ideal.

“She would have benefited from a prep run but she is a filly with plenty of experience, it's not like she's a young horse.

“On her French form Ebaiyra has shown herself a better horse than both her dam Ebiyza and her sister Edisa.”

Golden memories of Pride and Daryakana

Royer-Dupre's record in Hong Kong stands comparison with all comers, with two wins and seven placed efforts from his 21 runners at the LONGINES HKIR meeting.

Pride arrived in 2006 as arguably the form turf horse in the world, having split Rail Link and Deep Impact in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (2400m) before dominating her rivals 13 days later in the G1 Champion Stakes at Newmarket.

She also arrived back in Hong Kong with a score to settle, having failed by a neck to reel in Vengeance Of Rain in the Hong Kong Cup 12 months earlier under Soumillon.

With Christophe Lemaire in the plate most were expecting another hold up ride before unleashing her trademark turn of foot but, as Royer-Dupre recalls, the plan almost went awry.

“The mare had remained in very good shape after her runs in the Arc and the Champion Stakes,” he says. “She was a bit unlucky in the Arc and got there just too late whereas in Hong Kong it was the opposite problem and she hit the front too soon.”

Lemaire rode to beat Vengeance Of Rain once again but David Ferraris's champion was not in quite the same form and suddenly hunter became hunted, as Yutaka Take took dead aim with Admire Moon in one of the most memorable Cup finished in LONGINES HKIR history.

Royer-Dupre says: “The horse she was following didn't take her deep enough into the race and she was left out in front for Admire Moon to run at. In another few strides we'd have been beaten.

“It was a case of going from one extreme to the other which can happen. I think we were a bit lucky to win.”

There was much less pressure on Royer-Dupre and Gerald Mosse three years later when Daryakana arrived for the 2009 Vase, unbeaten in four starts and a G2 winner at Longchamp on her most recent outing.

Mosse's white gloves had Daryakana on a loose rein at the very rear of the field and, after angling his filly wide at the top of the straight, they still had 11 horses to pass at the 400 meter mark.

Royer-Dupre says: “Daryakana was very impressive. Turning into the straight she had a lot of ground to make up but Gerald Mosse knows Hong Kong very well and she finished in magnificent style.

“She was very backward and hadn't seen the track before July of that year and so the advantage was that she was very much still on the upgrade.”

Daryakana was the daughter of a French Oaks winner and went on to be a fabulous broodmare for H H Aga Khan, producing G1 winner Dariyan, himself third in the 2015 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase.

Pride has also been represented at the meeting, with her son One Foot In Heaven filling third spot in the 2016 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase.

Ebaiyra doesn't lack for family history at Sha Tin, while preparations will have been timed to the minute by her meticulous trainer one last time.

The post Trainer Of Over 70 Grade 1 Winners, Alain De Royer-Dupre Bids For Fairytale Ending With Talented Ebaiyra appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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A Man Of His Time

When the gates open for the G1 Hong Kong Vase on Sunday, Ebaiyra (Distorted Humor) will be bidding to round off her trainer Alain de Royer Dupré's 49-year career with a 94^th Group 1 win.

Now pause. And read that sentence again.

Forty-nine years. Ninety-three Group 1 victories. Almost two per season. And a mind-boggling total of 320 wins at Group level.

Royer Dupré's retirement from the training ranks brings the curtain down on a whole chapter of French and international racing history. It is quite fitting that his final significant runner sets off at Sha Tin's international race meeting, a fixture at which Royer Dupré has been a regular participant. And a successful one, having sent Pride (Fr) (Peintre Celebre) to win the Hong Kong Cup in 2006 and Daryakana (Fr) (Selkirk) to capture the Vase in 2009.

With the benefit of hindsight, it can be argued that Royer Dupré's career has mirrored, or perhaps preceded, the evolution of French racing. From his beginnings in show jumping and eventing to the winner's enclosure of Longchamp, Hollywood Park, Ascot, Woodbine, Flemington, Arlington, The Curragh or Meydan, he has ridden the crest of a wave that carried globalisation, emphasis on speed and the rise of hugely lucrative race meetings worldwide. Back in 1984, on only his second season of training for the Aga Khan, he sent out the G2 winner Lashkari (GB) (Mill Reef) to land the inaugural running of the Breeders' Cup Turf. The relative ease of modern-day overseas travel doesn't do justice to the level of boldness required for a young trainer to undertake such a trip with a 3-year-old back in the 1980s. Twenty-six years later, Royer Dupré again broke new ground by becoming the first French-based trainer, and only the second European, to win the Melbourne Cup.

Boldness is actually a quality that the master trainer half-heartedly concedes to himself, and without which we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

“I started in racing by working on Madame Couturié's Haras du Mesnil for eight years,” he recalls. “I was in an ideal situation to have a career in breeding, but I decided to start up training, which I knew nothing about, because I was missing the competitive aspect of racing. It was this decision that changed my life.”

Royer Dupré began in 1972 with a handful of jumpers in the west of France. He quickly proved successful and topped the regional leader board several times. Having trained some of His Highness's second string there, he made the move to Chantilly in 1981 upon the Aga Khan's invitation, before taking over at the helm of his private training centre of Aiglemont following François Mathet's death two years later. Asked to reflect on racing's changes throughout the half-century he has spent with a licence, he says, “There has certainly been a growing emphasis on shorter distances. The shorter trip of the Prix du Jockey-Club is just one example of this trend. There has also been a move towards using horses earlier, without necessarily giving them the amount of time they require. This is an ongoing trend, which I believe will meet its limits one day.”

Picking up on the first of these tendancies, I point out that the stock of the Aga Khan Studs historically performed over short distances. Those trained by Royer Dupré proved no exception, as the first Group 1 he won for His Highness was the 1100-metre Prix Robert Papin with the 2-year-old filly Masarika (GB) (Thatch), who went on to take the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches.

His reaction is typically insightful. “Indeed there was plenty of speed in the Aga Khan families, although Masarika was not a typical example as she was out of a mare who had been purchased individually,” he concedes. “More speed was brought into the pedigrees through the purchase of Jean-Luc Lagardère's stock, which was rich in American bloodlines. They resulted in Siyouni (Fr), for instance. But to go back to Masarika, her career was only made possible thanks to Yves Saint-Martin's exceptional riding skills. That a horse with so much speed was able to win over mile is a great testimony to his natural ride. He never fought with a horse.”

The acknowledgement of jockeys' contribution is a recurring theme in Royer Dupré's recollection of his accomplishments.

He continues, “Yves Saint-Martin played a major role in the early part of my tenure at Aiglemont. When I took over from François Mathet, I wasn't yet familiar with the training facilities at Chantilly. Galloping horses on the grass was new to me. He taught me an awful lot about these things. He was an outstanding rider and really helped me in producing the best out of every horse. To some extent, Yves's natural, fluid riding reminded me of my equestrian background and of my experience alongside one of the best eventing riders during my military service. Later on, Gérald Mosse would take on a similar role in the Aga Khan stable. He absolutely loved to fine-tune a horse and was brilliant at it.”

Christophe Soumillon is another jockey to have left his mark on Royer Dupré's career.

“When he took up the role as retained jockey for the Aga Khan, it was the first time His Highness was calling upon an apprentice for this position,” says the trainer. “I think his youthful ardour proved a huge benefit for the yard. He had a unique connection with certain horses, starting with Dalakhani (Ire). There was something special between those two.”

The same can arguably be said of the connection between Alain de Royer Dupré and His Highness the Aga Khan, for whom he will have trained a record 43 years.

“I was extremely lucky to meet His Highness”, he says. “The paramount component of his philosophy is that he is a breeder at heart. His horses are trained and raced with the single purpose of selecting the best specimen to breed from. It was always made very clear to me, and all decisions were taken according to this motto. One of the consequences was that I was never rushed to produce a horse, and it placed me in the best possible conditions to succeed. Rushing causes mistakes. A lot of owner nowadays struggle to come to terms with this, and I can understand that it requires a long education for someone without an equestrian background. I remember one of my riding instructors saying 'Perfection does not exist, but to get close to it, one must reach for excellence'. In hindsight, it is a good description of what drove my work over the years. Throughout my career, I have basically seen two ways of training racehorses: you either have a very large number and expect the horses to adapt to the system, or you adapt to every horse. I always trained according to the second method, which is why I never had huge numbers. We usually had between 80 and 90 horses at Aiglemont, and around 60 in my personal yard.”

Those numbers were even lower when Royer Dupré took up the Aga Khan job, as France was a smaller part of the operation back then.

“Things were quite different when I started up at Aiglemont,” he recalls. “Ninety-five per cent of the horses were bred in Ireland at the time, and I was the only French-based trainer. It is really as a consequence of the successive purchases of the operations of Marcel Boussac, François Dupré and then Jean-Luc Lagardère that the French studs developed and became more influential. But apart from that, there was a lot of continuity in the way things were done. In a recent video, His Highness said that I had been present to 'maintain the stable's level', and I am happy to be remembered for this accomplishment.”

His own, uncontested highlight remains the faultless campaigning of Zarkava (Fr) (Zamindar), a filly “who didn't stand out physically but was incredibly talented”.

“To me, Zarkava was the culmination of the Aga Khan's endeavour,” he says. “She traces back to the greatest mares in Mumtaz Mahal and Petite Etoile, but when Zarkava arrived in the yard, this family had gone quiet, it was almost extinct. It took the Aga Khan a lot of patience to sustain this family, and for Zarkava to achieve what she did was the perfect outcome. It really is what breeding is about.”

The evocation of breeding's purpose brings us to the evolution of the breed, another oft-debated topic, and I am keen to find out what kind of changes Royer Dupré observed in his extended career.

“The growing emphasis on speed has shaped the breed differently, that is for sure”, he notes. “The result hasn't always been positive though, and we are seeing more and more horses with a heavy back end and a tendency to be upright, which doesn't suit our turf tracks. Talking about tracks, I believe that the growing number of fixtures is proving detrimental to the horses. I hear some people argue that today's horses are more fragile and there might some truth in this assertion, but my view is that overused tracks are responsible for a lot of injuries. We start our morning routine very early in order to gallop our horses on fresh turf. On the racecourse, you don't have that opportunity.”

Another fitting testimony of Royer Dupré's capacity to evolve in harmony with his time comes in the fact that he took over at Aiglemont from François Mathet, then very much the incarnation of the racehorse trainer, and will be succeeded by his former assistant Francis-Henri Graffard, who arguably embodies the figure of the modern horse trainer.

I ask him what his final words to his successor will be, and he replies with a smile, “I still have a few days on my hands to think about them, but I will basically share with him the guidelines I have followed for 49 years: all methods are interesting, as long as you don't diverge from the fundamentals, that is to say the rules of nature.”

What will Alain de Royer Dupré be up to after these words have been spoken and the baton handed over?

“I will tack up my hack and go for a ride around Les Aigles”, he says happily. “After so many years of being head down into my job, I am excited to be able to take a step back and watch all aspects of racing, including breeding and training, from a different perspective. I will also try to make up for the time I didn't spend with my family. A trainer's family does suffer. One of my daughters is in show jumping at a high level and I am looking forward to getting more involved with her.”

Whether in his work or in retirement, excellence remains the objective for Alain de Royer Dupré.

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