Quality Runs Deep In Aga Khan Draft

[Wandering Eyes]

Tracing back the bloodlines of some of the horses that have made headlines in recent weeks, a common thread can be found. Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) became a champion at two and three when earning Cartier champion 3-year-old honors. The first foals of Almanzor (Fr) have found favour at the sales. A Dubawi colt out of G1 Irish St Leger winner Voleuse de Coeurs (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) was the top lot at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale.

What do all these horses have in common? They come from Aga Khan families.

These are far from the only horses to have been culled-or had their dams or grandams culled–by the great breeder and go on to success on the racetrack and in the breeding shed for new connections. Near the top of a very long list include names like Arcano (Ire), Capri (Ire), Dank (GB), Encke, Vadamos (Fr), Siyouma (Fr), Manighar (Fr), Rajsaman (Fr) and Alpine Rose (Fr).

“People have had some success with these families,” said an understated Georges Rimaud, manager of the Aga Khan’s French studs. “There is always something still happening in the families when we sell them; it’s very rare that nothing would happen. There is always improvement to be made when they get into other peoples’ hands.”

The Aga Khan Studs offers 26 fillies and mares at Arqana this weekend and Rimaud said it is an important exercise each year to decide which to cull to keep the global broodmare band around 190.

“We decide on numbers first because we have to sell as many females as we produce to maintain an acceptable number of broodmares,” he explained. “That is the first exercise and the number can vary from one year to the next taking into account the number of mares we have in foal and numbers of maiden or barren mares.

“Then we go by family. We tend to sell the fillies that have sufficient siblings in the broodmare band or coming off the track. There’s no academic way of doing it; it is very much a feeling we may have about some families. We very rarely sell the last filly from a family but it can happen, and we keep one or two from each family. There’s no great science about it, it is just about keeping alive certain families and making sure we don’t have too low of numbers from each family.”

This weekend’s Aga Khan offerings includes 11 fillies and mares that are Group 1 winners, daughters of Group 1 winners or sisters to Group 1 winners.

“Like any operation we have to make a bit of money so we’re selling a few mares that are worth a bit of money this time around,” Rimaud said. “We’re selling, for example, a couple of Group 1-winning mares or mares closely related to Group 1 winners. These kinds of horses are not very often on the market so it is an opportunity for buyers to get into those families. Some of these older mares, in their mid teens, we often still have the 2-year-old running or something that is ready to do well the next year.”

First up for the Aga Khan Studs on Saturday is Shalanaya (Ire) (Lomitas {GB}) (lot 8), the 13-year-old G1 Prix de l’Opera winner in foal to Almanzor on a Feb. 20 cover. While Shalanaya has yet to produce a stakes horse, she is the dam of three winners from four to race and Rimaud said her 2-year-old Shalamba (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}) is showing promise.

“Shalanaya is a nice mare from a real nice Aga Khan family,” he said. “Shalamba, the Zoffany filly that we have retained who is a 2-year-old is looking quite nice and should be an interesting prospect for next year. We have a few fillies in that family; we have [half-sister] Shankardeh (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) and Shahnaza (Fr) (Azamour {Ire}). This is typical of an interesting way to get into an Aga Khan family. It is not going to be hugely expensive because she is the age that she is, but she has a nice early cover and is a good prospect for someone who wants to start a broodmare band or is interested in breeding from that family.”

Rimaud noted that the Aga Khan supported Almanzor heavily in his debut season and is likely to continue to do so.

“We used Almanzor quite extensively last year and probably will again next year,” he said. “He was a very good racehorse and you have to give him that credit. He stands near us here in France and I think it is legitimate to support him even in the very first years. The first foals are very nice and we’ll probably carry on with him a while, at least until he has some runners and proves himself.”

Almanzor isn’t the only young sire outside the home roster that the Aga Khan has used; Shamakiya (Ire) (Intikhab) (lot 99), a multiple group-placed half-sister to G1 Gran Premio di Milano victress Shamdala (Ire) (Grand Lodge), is in foal to Derrinstown Stud’s G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad (Ire), who has his first 2-year-olds next year.

“Awtaad is a nice, young horse by Cape Cross, who is a horse we tend to like,” Rimaud said.

The page of Zarakiysha (Ire) (Kendor {Fr}) (lot 55) should catch the eye, she being a half-sister to the Aga Khan’s peerless champion and Group 1 producer Zarkava (Fr) (Zamindar). Zarakiysha has spent most of her breeding career as a member of the Aga Khan’s select broodmare band in Australia, where she left the listed-placed and G1 Queensland Oaks fourth Zarzali (Aus) (Hussonet), and she is offered in foal to Siyouni.

While her age, 15, will be a knock, Rimaud reasons that she is a gateway into an excellent family with the opportunity to strike big with her first foal for her new connections.

“I know these older mares aren’t really what makes a lot on the market, but we’re not focused on that; we have to cull and we have to pass them on,” he said. “You rarely get females of that family so directly acquainted to Zarkava. She’s in-foal to Siyouni, so it is a nice way to get into the family with a Siyouni foal first time out.”

It is a similar case for Saliyna (Fr) (Linamix {Fr}) (lot 9), who is 13 years old but has already produced a stakes-placed horse and comes from a family that just keeps on producing. She is a full-sister to Group 1 winner and sire Slickly (Fr) and the dam of Siyouni, and just this year Siyarafina (Fr) (Pivotal {GB}), who also appears under the first dam, provided another Group 1 update with a win in the Prix Saint-Alary. Saliyna’s 2-year-old colt, Safiyann (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}), was placed on Nov. 26 at Deauville. Saliyna is offered in foal to Camacho (GB).

“This is an interesting Lagardere family,” Rimaud said. “She is a half-sister to the dam of Siyouni so this is again a way of getting into a family that is rarely on the market. This is the family of Siyarafina this year so this is a family that is quite alive and there are a lot of things that are going to happen.”

Another stakes-producing, in-foal mare in the draft is Valasyra (Fr) (Sinndar {Ire}) (lot 159). The 12-year-old is a half-sister to the G1 Prix de Diane winner Valyra (Fr) (Azamour {Ire}) and is in foal to Siyouni.

“She’s a stakes-placed mare from a good family,” Rimaud said. “She’s a sister to Valyra who won the Prix de Diane and it’s that ‘V’ family of Lagardere, which is very prolific. I think this is quite a nice page and a great opportunity for someone to get into that family with a Siyouni.”

Of the maiden 3-year-old filly offerings, Sadiqa (Fr) (Poet’s Voice {GB}) (lot 61), Dalkeya (Fr) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) (lot 191) and Elaya (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) (lot 64) are all sisters to Group 1 winners.

Sadiqa was a winner whose career was cut short by injury, and in addition to being a half-sister to Prix Saint-Alary winner Sagawara (Fr) (Shamardal), she is a granddaughter of the prolific producer Saganeca (Fr) (Sagace {Fr}).

“She is a half-sister to Sagawara and from Sagamix’s family, which is again a Lagardere family, but if you go a bit further down the page Shastye is the dam of Japan and Secret Gesture, so there again it is a nice family to get into.”

Rimaud noted that Dalkeya is being offered as a broodmare prospect only due to injury. Being a half-sister to G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner Dolniya (Fr) (Azamour {Ire}) and out of a sister to Daylami (Ire) and Dalakhani (Ire), she should have plenty of interested parties.

“She’s a lovely looking mare and would be a nice way to start,” Rimaud said. “She is very pleasant to the eye and I think she’ll get a lot of interest.”

Elaya, meanwhile, is a full-sister to Ervedya (Fr), who took the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, Coronation S. and Prix du Moulin de Longchamp of 2015.

“Elaya raced once and didn’t perform and then she hurt herself a bit,” Rimaud said. “She’s fine now and ready to be a broodmare. She’s a beautiful filly and with a family that is starting to improve not only with Ervedya but others, like Ebony (Fr), this year, a Le Havre (Ire) filly who was listed-placed in France.”

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