His Highness The Aga Khan
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...
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...
His Highness Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, who has died in Lisbon at the age of 88, ranks as one of the greatest owner/breeders of this or any other era, as well as one of the most significant religious figures of the modern world. He inherited the title of Aga Khan (commanding leader) on the death of his grandfather Aga Khan III in 1957 and then took control of the family's bloodstock interests three years later when his father Prince Aly Khan lost his life in a car crash. ...
A share in Group 1 winner and sire Zarak (Fr) has been sold privately for €600,000 to Chauvigny Global Equine, Arqana announced on Wednesday. Originally passed in at €650,000 during Tuesday's Arqana Online November Sale, the 1/50th share (lot 1) has now been purchased by Sebastien Desmontils's operation. Based at the Aga Khan Studs' Haras de Bonneval, the son of Dubawi (Ire) and Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar) has sired a total of 28 stakes winners, 19 of them at group level or higher. In 2024 alone, the bay had 19 stakes...
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...
His Highness The Aga Khan's undefeated G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine and Group 1 producer Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar) will not be bred next year and has been pensioned, The Aga Khan Studs announced on Wednesday. The 19-year-old mare's final foal is a filly by Siyouni (Fr) born on February 2, 2024. Foaled on the final day of March in 2005, the daughter of Zarkasha (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}) won her seven starts for Alain de Royer-Dupre by a combined 16 lengths, all in group company, bar her Longchamp maiden. After winning...
Jockey Gerald Mosse, who has ridden for 41 years, has called time on his career after his weekend rides, he announced on Saturday. He will begin his next career, as a public trainer based at Chantilly, on Sept. 1. A winner of more than 90 Group 1 races worldwide, including all of the French and Hong Kong Classics, the Marseille native has found success in Hong Kong, Bahrain, Dubai, and Singapore, as well as England and Italy. Early in his career, he rode for Jean-Luc Lagardere and His Highness The...
The Classic-placed Royal Scotsman (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) has been supplemented to the G1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas on Saturday, and the field now stands at 12. Trained by Paul and Oliver Cole for Mrs. Fitri Hay, the G1 Dewhurst S. runner-up and Guineas third is joined by the Guineas second and fourth Hi Royal (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Galeron (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) respectively. A trio of colts line up from Aidan O'Brien in Age Of Kings (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), Cairo (Ire) (Quality Road) and Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}). Sunday's G1...
Group 1 winner Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}) has exited her strong second-place effort in the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas in good order, according to trainer Dermot Weld. His Highness The Aga Khan's homebred pushed Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) all the way to the line in a fierce stretch duel at Newmarket, only to lose out by a half-length. Plans for last year's G1 Moyglare Stud S. heroine are fluid at the moment, but the May 28 G1 Irish 1000 Guineas is under consideration. "She's come out of her...
Champion Daylami (Ire) (Doyoun {Ire}--Daltawa {Ire}, by Miswaki), a winner of seven Group 1 races worldwide, has been euthanised due to the infirmities of old age, the Aga Khan Studs announced on Wednesday. He was two weeks shy of his official 29th birthday on Apr. 20. Racing for first his breeder, His Highness The Aga Khan, and later on in the blue silks of Godolphin, the 1994 foal was second in the 1996 G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud at two and grabbed a Classic laurel in the G1 Poule d'Essai des...
Aga Khan Studs' sire Zarak (Fr) continued to prove popular at the sales, as Tom Goff's Blandford Bloodstock shelled out 350,000gns on behalf of Chasemore Farm for a 1/50th share (lot 63) in the rising sire star to top the Tattersalls Online January Sale on Thursday. The son of Arc heroine Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar) has gone from strength to strength with his progeny in the past few years. Among his many stakes winners are group winners Purplepay (Fr), Sirjan (Ger), Baiykara (Fr), Lavello (Ire), and Lizaid (Ger), while La Parisienne...
Retired French trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre has been elevated to the rank of Knight in the French Legion of Honour. The award is the highest distinction for French citizens, and is comprised of the following ranks in order of increasing distinction: knight, officer, commander, grand officer, and grand cross. Royer-Dupre, who retired from training at the end of 2021, will be presented with the award in a subsequent ceremony. De Royer-Dupre told Jour de Galop, "It's good that the racing world is recognised. Certainly, as far as I am concerned,...