Aga Khan Studs

Francis Graffard trainee Vadinska (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) delivered an impressive debut performance in Thursday's Prix Fourire at Saint-Cloud and earned a TDN Rising Star badge after registering a 10-length success in the one-mile debutantes' heat. The January-foaled bay, who lined up as the 4-5 favourite here, broke from the outside stall and tracked the leading duo from a position three lengths off the tempo through the initial fractions. Inching closer rounding the home turn, she cruised to the front on the bridle in early straight and lengthened clear in style...

It is nearly 20 years since Speciosa (Ire) became the first Classic winner to emanate from the breeze-up sales. The man who sold her, Willie Browne, had been plying his trade in that sector since 1978, and, as the breeze-ups close in on their 50th anniversary, it is good to see that the Mocklershill maestro is still very much at the top of his game.  In fact, last week's Craven Sale at Tattersalls was a good one for the founding fathers of the breeze-up game. There was Browne turning €70,000...

The Coral-Eclipse Stakes, the highlight of Sandown's Flat season, will this year be run for a total prize fund of £1 million, making it the eighth race in Britain to offer prize-money into seven figures and the most valuable ever staged at the Surrey track. Last year's race carried prize-money of £750,000. Sandown Park, part of the Jockey Club's portfolio of racecourses, celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2025, a year which also sees Coral mark 50 years of sponsorship the Group 1 feature, making it the longest-running Group race sponsorship...

It's going to get a little confusing this year with all these painters coming to the fore. Even more confusingly, Henri Matisse (Ire) and Camille Pissarro (Ire) are both by Wootton Bassett (GB) out of mares by Pivotal (GB), and, unsuprisingly, they are no ordinary mares.  Immortal Verse (Ire), the dual Group 1 winner bought for 4.7 million gns as a five-year-old, had already produced the Group 1 and Group 2 winners Tenebrism (Caravaggio) and Statuette (Justify) before Henri Matisse came along and, from a hard-working and high-scoring juvenile campaign...

Fillies from the Aga Khan Studs claimed two of the European Classics last season and both will be covered this spring for the first time. The Oaks winner Ezeliya (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) is in America to be covered by Justify, while Poules d'Essai des Pouliches victrix Rouhiya (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) will remain among the home team and is to visit Sea The Stars (Ire) at Gilltown Stud. Ezeliya's dam Eziyra (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) will return to Dubawi and Rondonia (Ire) (Raven's Pass), the dam of Rouhiya, who is...

Sulaiyma (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a 4-year-old half-sister to G3 Munster Oaks heroine Sumiha (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), topped Thursday's Goffs Online Sale, which consisted of seven lots from the draft of the Aga Khan Studs. The horses were scratched out of the Goffs February Sale proper as a mark of respect following the recent passing of His Highness The Aga Khan. The bay went to Tally-Ho Stud on a bid of €150,000. Sold as lot 381, the filly is from the extended family of Sinndar (Ire). All seven lots...

A significant draft of seven lots from the Aga Khan Studs, withdrawn from last week's Goffs February Sale as a mark of respect following the recent passing of His Highness The Aga Khan, will be offered in an online sale on Goffs.com on Thursday, February 13. The sale will be held as a timed online auction between the hours of 12pm and 2pm. Prospective buyers must register to bid by 5pm on Wednesday, February 12 on the online catalogue page, which also offers pedigree information, photos and videos for each...

It is plain to see that the Aga Khan Studs are in excellent hands, but the passing of His Highness the Aga Khan IV nevertheless signals the end of one of the most significant chapters in the long and storied history of Thoroughbred breeding. During his 65-year tenure at the head of the Aga Khan Studs, he presided over a prolonged period of growth, both in the stature and size of the operation, which was consolidated and expanded by the acquisition of stock from other major breeders. Those included Francois...

A nomination to the Aga Khan Studs stallion Zarak (Fr) has been added to the Arqana Online January Sale, which is due to take place between the hours of 3pm and 5pm (local time) on Monday, January 20. For conditions of sale and to view the full catalogue, click here. Zarak stood his first season at Haras de Bonneval in 2018 and is set to command a career-high fee of €80,000 in 2025, having produced three Group 1 winners from his early crops, including last year's Poule d'Essai des Poulains...

A 1/50th share in the Aga Khan Studs stallion Zarak (Fr) took top billing in the Arqana December Online Sale when going the way of Alex Elliott for €800,000. Of the 13 stallion shares and breeding rights offered, nine sold for a total of €1,323,000. A four-time winner when trained by Alain de Royer-Dupré, notably landing the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, Zarak boasts an exceptional pedigree as a son of Dubawi (Ire) and the unbeaten G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar). Zarak stood his first...

Sea The Stars (Ire) will stand at his highest-ever fee of €250,000 at Gilltown Stud in 2025 after a season in which his 28 stakes winners included the G1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Sosie (Ire) and promising juvenile The Lion In Winter (Ire), who is currently favourite for next year's 2,000 Guineas. His fellow Aga Khan Studs stallion Siyouni (Fr) headlines the roster at Haras de Bonneval in Normandy where his stud fee for next year will remain unchanged at €200,000.  Zarak (Fr), currently the second-leading sire in Europe...

In a new partnership between the Aga Khan Studs and France Galop, it was announced on Thursday that the racing and breeding operation of His Highness the Aga Khan has committed to an across-the-card sponsorship of Prix Jacques le Marois day at Deauville from 2025. For nearly 40 years the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, which boasts prize-money of €1 million, was sponsored by the Niarchos family whose long association with the race included nine victories in their familiar silks. The legendary Miesque was the first when winning back-to-back editions...