Aga Khan Dynasty Goes Down Under

The Aga Khan has enjoyed success of epic proportions as an owner/breeder in Europe, and his operation has also been quietly making waves in Australia over the last eight years, breeding a select handful of yearlings Down Under each year and selling them through Arrowfield Stud. That project is set to write its latest chapter at Easter this week when three yearlings go through the ring as part of the Aga Khan/Arrowfield venture.

Lot 151 will be the first to go through the ring Tuesday, and she is a Redoute's Choice (Aus) filly out of Zarakiysha (Ire) (Kendor {Fr}), an unraced half-sister to one of the Aga Khan's greatest success stories in the European Horse of the Year and unbeaten G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar). Zarakiysha has produced three winners from three foals to race, headed by the Group 3-placed Zarzali (Aus) (Hussonet).

Going through the ring late on day one will be lot 189, another Redoute's Choice, this one a colt who is the first foal out of a half-sister to the Aga Khan's four-time Group 1 winner Azamour (Ire) (Night Shift). Lot 395, the fifth horse through the ring on day three, is a colt by Redoute's Choice's red-hot sire son Snitzel (Aus) and the first foal out of the French Group 2-placed Mandistana (Fr) (Azamour {Ire}). His second dam is a full-sister to Manighar (Fr) (Linamix {Fr}), the winner of the G2 Prix Chaudenay in France for the Aga Khan who went on to win three Group 1s in Australia.

The Aga Khan Studs got the Australian yearling sale season off to a positive start when selling a Snitzel colt through Arrowfield for A$310,000 at the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale last month, and the Aga Khan's French studs manager, Georges Rimaud–who is in Sydney this week with the operation's French marketing director Aline Giraud–said Monday, “We've had this venture going for eight years. There have been ups and downs in terms of results at the sales, but this year we had two horses that sold at Melbourne very well, and we have three here–two nice colts and a nice filly–and we're really looking forward to an improved result.”

It was the relationship developed through this venture that led to Arrowfield's three-time champion sire Redoute's Choice shuttling to the Aga Khan's Haras de Bonneval in France in 2013 and 2014. Redoute's Choice's first-crop Northern Hemisphere yearlings were well received at last year's European yearling sales, selling for up to €950,000 and €660,000 at Arqana.

“[Arrowfield Chairman] John [Messara] sent Redoute's Choice to France for us to use and commercialize there, and he was very well supported there and we're very happy to have two good individuals by him here,” Rimaud said.

Rimaud said that while Redoute's Choices progeny have loosely followed the respective Southern or Northern-hemisphere molds, the stallion is one that stamps his foals no matter where they're born.

“I tend to agree with people who said the European Redoute's Choices were somewhat different and more classic-looking,” he said. “The yearlings [in Australia] are much more forward than they would be in Europe in general, but there's not a whole lot of difference. Redoute's Choice is a horse that really marks his offspring and he throws a type of horse.”

Rimaud explained that the objectives for sending Aga Khan mares to Australia–they currently board nine with Arrowfield–included increasing awareness of the Aga Khan's bloodlines Down Under and building relationships to encourage Australians to come to Europe.

“We have a lot of horses in Europe,” he said. “In order to keep the same numbers we sell a lot of racehorses and a lot of fillies and mares. This was a useful way to get our families known in Australia. We've sold yearlings here and we've also sold racehorses here, and it gets people interested in our bloodlines. We also benefit from it from Australians coming to buy our bloodlines in Europe.”

Rimaud said considering those objectives, the project has been a success. “The whole thing works,” he said. “It's not just selling yearlings here; it has made us participate in this very worldwide market, and we find that a good thing.”

The Aga Khan has thus far sold all his yearlings bred in Australia, and Rimaud said that business plan isn't likely to change. “Overall everything goes to the market, generally without reserve,” he said. “We haven't yet considered doing anything different.”