The Aga Khan Studs

The first foals for European champion three-year-old Vadeni (Fr) have been reported by the Aga Khan Studs, who also welcomed one of the first arrivals for Group 2-winning miler Erevann (Fr) recently when a bay filly out of the G1 Hong Kong Vase winner Daryakana (Fr) (Selkirk) was born on February 11. The foal is a half-sister to five black-type performers--including the G1 Prix Ganay winner and sire Dariyan (Fr)--and is described as "a beauty" by French studs manager Pierre Gasnier. He added, "[She's] a very attractive filly, with plenty...

A significant draft of seven lots from the Aga Khan Studs, withdrawn from last week's Goffs February Sale as a mark of respect following the recent passing of His Highness The Aga Khan, will be offered in an online sale on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...

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...

Georges Rimaud, the director of the Aga Khan Studs in France for a quarter-century, will retire at the end of 2024. He will be succeeded by Pierre Gasnier, who has assisted Rimaud for the past two years. Trained at the Irish National Stud in 1980, Rimaud worked at Spendthrift Farm and later managed Hurricane Hall--both in Kentucky--and also managed Virginia's Audley Farm. Named manager of Haras d'Etreham in 1991, he joined the Aga Khan Studs in June of 2000. Since then, horses carrying His Highness The Aga Khan's distinctive silks...

Francis-Henri Graffard trainee Azimpour (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}--Azmiyna {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}), a half-brother to multiple Group 1-winning sire The Autumn Sun (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}), sidestepped an engagement at Saint-Cloud earlier in the month and made no mistake in his debut proper with a 3/4-of-a-length tally in Sunday's €50,000 Prix de Belleville over nine furlongs at ParisLongchamp. 1st-ParisLongchamp, €50,000, Mdn, 10-20, unraced 2yo, c/g, 9fT, 2:04.32, hy. AZIMPOUR (IRE) (c, 2, Dubawi {Ire}--Azmiyna {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) was within range of the leaders racing at the tail of the seven-runner...

Both multiple Group 1 winner Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) and Group 2 winner Erevann (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) will be on show at The Aga Khan Studs' Haras de Bonneval during the upcoming Arqana Breeding Stock Sale from Thursday, Dec. 7 to Monday, Dec. 11 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. A shuttle service will be available from Arqana to the stud running at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. each day. To book your visit, please see the Aga Khan Studs team in Yard P at Arqana or, alternatively, contact Fanny...

Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar), the Aga Khan's unbeaten 2008 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner and the dam of last year's champion French first-season sire Zarak (Fr), will be covered by another Aga Khan superstar, Siyouni (Fr), in 2022. Zarkava has already produced the listed-winning filly Zaykava (Fr) from a mating with Siyouni, and she has a yearling colt by the French champion sire. Zarkava's listed-winning and Group 1-placed daughter Zarkamiya (Fr) (Frankel {GB}) is currently in foal to Siyouni. Siyouni stands for a second consecutive season for €140,000 at...

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...

Breeders' Cup champion Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal), who was retired in November, will visit Frankel (GB) for her first beau, Pat Downes, the Manager of The Aga Khan Studs in Ireland, announced on the Nick Luck Daily podcast. Bred and raced by His Highness The Aga Khan, the chestnut scored three times at the highest level in 2020, in the Prix Vermeille, Prix de l'Opera and Breeders' Cup Turf. She was second in the 2021 G1 Irish Champion S. to Cartier Horse of the Year St. Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr})...

One hundred years after the Aga Khan III made his first purchase at the Tattersalls July Sale, the bloodstock empire he built, and which has been carefully cultivated by his grandson, HH the Aga Khan IV, continues to thrive. Following Tuesday's first instalment of the early years of the Aga Khan Studs, the second part sees the baton pass in sad circumstances, heralding a major restructuring of the operation. The text is reproduced by kind permission from the Aga Khan Studs' centenary brochure, written by Emma Berry and John Berry.  ...

One hundred years after the Aga Khan III made his first purchase at the Tattersalls July Sale, the bloodstock empire he built, and which has been carefully cultivated by his grandson, HH the Aga Khan IV, continues to thrive. Over the next three days we look back over the history of one of the most influential owner/breeder operations in the history of the Thoroughbred, with edited highlights from the Aga Khan Studs' centenary brochure, written by Emma Berry and John Berry.   They say that the future belongs to those...