The Aga Khan Studs

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...

When Aga Khan homebred Zarak (Fr) retired to stud at Haras de Bonneval in 2018, he boasted exemplary credentials: by the sire-making Dubawi (Ire), Zarak was a Group 1 winner out of the Aga Khan's great champion mare Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar). Zarak did his best running at four when he won the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud over 2400 metres for trainer Alain de Royer Dupre, and therefore his first 2-year-olds in 2021 could have been somewhat forgiven should they have required time. They, however, most certainly did not. Zarak...

Irish-based Sea The Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and French-based Siyouni (Fr) (Pivotal {GB}) will jointly lead their respective rosters in 2022 for The Aga Khan Studs. One of two stallions standing at Gilltown Stud, Sea The Stars will command €150,000. His unbeaten miler Baaeed (GB) and the progressive filly Teona (Ire) both scored at the highest level in 2021, bringing their sire's total Group 1 winners to 16. Overall, the bay has sired 22 black-type winners this term and he was the sire of the top-priced filly and top-priced...

Following the retirement of Alain de Royer-Dupre at the end of 2021, trainer Francis-Henri Graffard will take over the training of the horses based at His Highness The Aga Khan's private training centre at Aiglemont. Situated in Gouvieux, Aiglemont is currently home to 80-90 Aga Khan-bred horses. Past champions bearing the green with red epaulettes trained at Aiglemont include Zarkava (Ire), Dalakhani (Ire) and Siyouni (Fr). Graffard, a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start, spent four years at the Darley Racing Office before becoming an assistant to Alain de Royer-Dupre....

French Champion Sire Siyouni (Fr) (Pivotal {GB}--Sichilla {Ire}, by Danehill), will be available to cover mares on Southern Hemisphere time for €100,000, The Aga Khan Studs announced on Friday. In 2021, Siyouni is the sire of G1 French 2000 Guineas hero St Mark's Basilica (Fr) who also won the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. at two. Last year, Siyouni's 2019 G1 Prix du Jockey Club victor Sottsass (Fr) captured the G1 Qatar Prix l'Arc de Triomphe. The bay has also sired G1 French 1000 Guineas winners Dream And Do (Ire) and...

Undefeated G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar) foaled a Siyouni (Fr) colt at Sheshoon Stud in Ireland on Apr. 16, The Aga Khan Studs announced on Wednesday. The bay is the 12th progeny of the remarkable mare and a full-brother to listed winner Zaykava (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). According to Pat Downes, who manages The Aga Khan Studs in Ireland, the colt is "an attractive, correct colt with plenty of quality. He has a lot of presence." A winner of two French filly Classics and another two...

In addition to its resident sires including lynchpins Siyouni (Fr) and Sea The Stars (Ire), the Aga Khan Studs will lend support to the likes of Lope De Vega (Ire) and Frankel (GB), as well as unproven sires Too Darn Hot (GB) and Ghaiyyath (Ire), with its European broodmare band in 2021. One of the stars of the Aga Khan Studs broodmare band is undoubtedly the unbeaten G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe victress Zarkava (Ire) (Zamindar). She is currently in foal to Siyouni and will visit Lope De Vega....