Francis Graffard

Saturday's Belmont Stakes is the last of nine top-level events on the weekend and the final of the six highly anticipated Grade I contests scheduled for a bumper card at Saratoga, short, medium and long on both the turf and the main track. A top-quality field of seven is set to face the starter in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap, for which 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Nysos (Nyquist) is the 9-5 morning-line favorite and 126-pound topweight in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders'...

Entered in all the big ones in France, Varandir (Zarak) stayed on track when extending his perfect record to three-from-three for The Aga Khan Studs in Sunday's G3 Prix Hocquart at ParisLongchamp. Held up in rear early by Mickael Barzalona, the even-money favourite who had won here on debut and at Lyon-Parilly last month stayed on down the outer to lead inside the final half furlong and score by 1 1/4 lengths from Jabracadabra (Cracksman), with a head back to Wiki (Make Believe) in third. From the family of the...

If there was any tension from the Aga Khan Studs team ahead of the latest expedition of Daryz (Sea The Stars) on Thursday, it quickly melted away as the Arc-winning sensation breezed through the renamed G1 Prix Aga Khan IV. Making light work of the inaugural running of ParisLongchamp's extended nine-furlong Prix d'Ispahan under its revised title honouring the remarkable legacy of the winner's late breeder, the 1-5 favourite who could yet turn out to be one of the very finest produced by the operation brushed aside last year's Grand...

She may have missed her initial target this year, but Zayida (Frankel) proved on Tuesday that she is firmly in the Prix de Diane reckoning for the The Aga Khan Studs with a clear-cut win in Chantilly's Listed Prix Finlande. Only fourth over this nine-furlong trip on her seasonal bow in ParisLongchamp's G3 Prix Vanteaux in early April, the granddaughter of Zarkava (Zamindar) had enjoyed a confidence boost in a course-and-distance conditions event later that month and upped her game with a dominant display here. Always travelling easily stalking the...

One of two entered in the Oaks by Francis Graffard along with the talented Gilded Prize, Behrayna (Sea The Moon) made light work of her first serious task in Sunday's Listed Prix de la Seine at ParisLongchamp. Off the mark over 10 1/2 furlongs here last month, the Aga Khan Studs homebred who descends from Mill Reef's 1989 Prix Saint-Alary winner and Arc runner-up Behera shadowed the early leader of this 11-furlong test. Swooping two out, the 3-5 favourite drew away under Mickael Barzalona to score with authority by 2...

Any fears that Daryz (Sea The Stars) might need his reintroduction in Sunday's G1 Prix Ganay proved wide of the mark as the Arc hero served notice of what is to come in 2026 with a scintillating display. Sent off the 7-10 favourite for the 10 1/2-furlong ParisLongchamp feature, the son of Daryakana (Selkirk) cruised through the contest with Mickael Barzalona happy to wait behind the leading pair. Set alight inside the two, the homebred surged to a 3 1/2-length success from the race-fit Bright Picture (Intello). There was another 1 3/4...

There was much to absorb over the last weekend and, significantly for the tier of horseracing which prompts so much fan engagement, the two best horses in Europe both returned victorious in Dubai. Calandagan (Gleneagles) and Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), first and second in last year's Qipco Champion Stakes and just two pounds apart in the 2025 Longines World Rankings, each put down an important marker for the season ahead, in the Dubai Sheema Classic and Dubai Turf respectively. And, yes, perhaps one can argue that there wasn't the usual...

Following the explosive performance of Erdenali (Caravaggio) at Saint-Cloud on Sunday, the only downside is that the latest sensation to emerge from The Aga Khan Studs is a gelding and therefore unable to contest the Classics. Sent off the 2-1 favourite for the card's opening Prix Kashmir over a mile, the grandson of the high-class Ervedya (Siyouni) cruised from the back to the front two out under a near-motionless Mickael Barzalona, who had made the voyage back from Dubai where he had steered the operation's gelding supreme Calandagan only hours before....

Back in competitive action for the first time since being crowned Longines World's Best Racehorses for 2025, Calandagan (Gleaneagles) signalled that he won't be giving up his crown without a fight when reeling in longshot West Wind Blows (Teofilo) to avenge last year's defeat in the $6-million G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan on Saturday. Runner-up to Danon Decile (Epiphaneia) 12 months ago, Calandagan was a warm order to go one place better in this six-strong field and register a fifth consecutive Group 1 success for Francis-Henri Graffard and...

Thursday's Prix du Val Saint-Georges at Chantilly shaped like a mini Group race and it was Juddmonte's exciting Frankel filly Gilded Prize who emerged on top to become her sire's 46th TDN Rising Star, Presented by Hagyard. Back over the same course and 9 1/2-furlong distance of her winning start in November, the Francis Graffard-trained daughter of the Beverly D. and Flower Bowl Stakes-placed Grand Jete (Dansili) moved easily over the Polytrack taking a lead early. Asked to intensify approaching the final furlong by Colin Keane, the 6-5 favourite opened up...

Up half a mile from her inauspicious debut, Calasita (Zarak) enjoyed the stamina test at Saint-Cloud to get off the mark for Francis Graffard on Tuesday. A half-sister to The Aga Khan Studs world leader Calandagan (Gleneagles), the Prix de Diane entry who had been seventh over a mile at Deauville in October followed the pace with Mickael Barzalona in no hurry. Surging to the front with minimal urging approaching two out, the 23-10 second favourite gave extra to ward off Spirit Of Zarak (Zarak) late and prevail by half...

Francis Graffard unveiled another exciting prospect on Wednesday when Lord Clover (Siyouni) made light work of the mile maiden on Chantilly's Polytrack. Sent off the 3-5 favourite, the son of the Group 1-placed Lady Frankel (Frankel) did everything right following a tardy break to cruise by outclassed rivals a furlong out under Christophe Soumillon and on to a 6 1/2-length success from Magnus (Footstepsinthesand). The result was a landmark for Soumillon, with the Belgian recording a 4000th victory on the flat in France. The winner, who is engaged in the...