Cover image courtesy of Aga Khan Studs
Manager of the French Studs, Rimaud made the revelation in the wake of a landmark success for Siyouni when, over the final weekend in May, he sired both Irish Guineas winners.
The G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, run on the Saturday at the Curragh, was won by Aidan O’Brien’s Paddington (GB), who made it six successive years for Siyouni as a Classic-winning sire. The imposing colt was followed on Sunday by the Dermot Weld-trained filly Tahiyra (Ire), who made amends for her Newmarket defeat by dancing away with the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas.
It was a proud day for the Aga Khan Studs, with Tahiyra completing the historic double in their Green silks, and joining a long list of homebred Group 1 winners for the Aga Khan family.
For those less familiar, Tahiyra is a typical example of a long-cultivated Aga Khan pedigree. She is a sister to their three-time Group 1 winner Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal {USA}) and the pair are out of Tarana (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), who is out of Tarakala (Ire) (Dr Fong {USA}), who is out of Tarakana (USA) (Shahrastani {USA}), who is out of Tarafa (GB) - who is by Akarad (Fr), a sister to the current Aga Khan’s first G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner, Akiyda (GB) (Labus {Fr}) - a homebred like all of the above.
The picture is clear. Two decades of planning went into the Aga Khan III’s first purchase at Tattersalls' July Sale in Newmarket in 1921 and his grandson, HH the Aga Khan IV, has only amplified the successful tradition of a family that has bred, raced, stood - and stood by - some of Europe’s finest bloodlines for a century now.
So, when Rimaud - who this week celebrated his 23rd anniversary at the company - warns breeders not to miss the boat as they open up Zarak to Southern Hemisphere breeding for the first time in the coming months, we’d be wise to pay attention.
Limited opportunity
Reviving the family’s studs in the 1960s and 70s, the HH the Aga Khan IV’s capability as a breeder is best exemplified by his economical use of external stallions.
There’s no shortage of Tahiyras and Tarnawas, but there are also abundant examples of his using commercially less popular stallions to great effect. Notably, he used Zamindar (USA) to produce both three-time Group 1 winner Darjina (Fr) and the incomparable Zarkava (Ire), unbeaten in five Group 1s following her debut 2-year-old win.
She, of course, is the dam of Zarak, the Group 1-winning son of Dubawi (Ire) who is now beginning to really hit his straps as a sire.
Zarak (Fr) | Standing at Aga Khan Studs
“He's had a lot of stakes winners, lots of winners,” Rimaud told TDN AusNZ. “He has a very good ratio of winners to runners, he's right up to the top really. He's covered his better books of mares now this year and the year before.
“I think we're looking at a great future for him with the quality of mares covering now.”
With his third crop emerging this year, Zarak entered Haras de Bonneval, the Aga Khan Studs’ French base, in 2018. Success came immediately with his first runners in 2021, and saw his initial €12,000 ($19,300) fee jump to €25,000 ($40,200) last year in response.
Rimaud noted that, whilst he received plenty of support, the quality of Zarak’s early books largely reflected his modest fee. But, from that start he’s currently firing at 9.6 per cent stakes winners to runners, and was therefore raised to €60,000 ($96,400) for 2023.
Georges Rimaud | Image courtesy of Aga Khan Studs
“He improves the quality of the production of the mares that he covers,” was Rimaud’s modest take.
“People recognise that he’s extremely popular here. His pedigree helps a lot, but his performances do as well because you see them very often in the winner’s circle.
“He’s still very young. I don't know if the Australians are aware of him, I'm sure some professionals are.”
The professionals will know that Zarak’s three Australian runners include his best horse on official ratings. The 4-year-old mare Times Square (Fr) was beaten a neck in last year’s French Guineas, and has so far had two runs for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.
With every chance that Zarak will soon be amongst the headlines in Australian racing, he is priced at €40,000 ($64,300) for his first book of Southern Hemisphere covers.
“I would just say, don't miss the boat, because I think that's what happened with Siyouni first. We had tried to bring him into Australia but it didn’t work out. At the end of the day, we can see that if we had done it, it would've worked really well,” explained Rimaud, hinting that Zarak may find himself an Australian shuttle home in the future should his cards fall as anticipated.
Siyouni standing tall
Rimaud has every reason to believe that Zarak will mirror the career of his glittering barnmate Siyouni, who stood his first four seasons at €7000 ($11,300) before climbing quickly through the ranks.
Standing this year for a career-high fee of €150,000 ($241,000), Rimaud admits that once they’re that valuable, “...it gets tricky to ship them down to Australia.”
Siyouni (Fr) | Standing at Aga Khan Studs
No hermit, he knows very well how Siyouni is faring here. The exploits of the star of the west Amelia’s Jewel have certainly brought about a surge in interest, but Rimaud must weigh commercial obligations, to which the family-owned operation is not immune, against protecting the horse.
The operation isn't known to be ruthlessly commercial so it’s no surprise that the decision falls on the side of caution, and in the same vein, Siyouni will be available for around 20 Southern Hemisphere covers in 2023 at a fee of €60,000 ($96,400).
The correct match
At 16 years old, Siyouni appears in his pomp as a stallion - though don't forget that his own sire Pivotal (GB) was covering well into his late 20s.
Earning his ninth elite-level winner with Paddington (Tahiyra was a Group 1-winning juvenile), he is emerging as a sire of sires, with his most exciting son being European Champion 2-Year-Old and World Champion 3-Year-Old St Mark's Basilica (Fr).
St Mark's Basilica (Fr) | Standing at Coolmore Stud
Undoubtedly versatile, it seems to be around a mile that the majority are most effective. Important not only for European breeders, but a good complement to Australian speed, Rimaud argued.
“Guineas is a very important race in terms of making either a stallion or good broodmare,” he said. “This is the race that everybody wants to win, really, whether it be a French, an Irish or a Newmarket Guineas.
“It epitomises the success of the stallion and the breeding operation as well.”
Standing nearly 16.2hh, Siyouni is an imposing horse, but Rimaud warns that breeders should ignore their natural inclinations to send him smaller mares in response.
“I believe that you need to send big mares to Siyouni, mares that are quite rangey. If you send him small mares you tend to get a small horse,” he cautioned, despite that being no barrier to success in the case of Amelia’s Jewel.
Amelia's Jewel winning the The Quokka earlier this year | Image courtesy of Racing and Wagering Western Australia
“On performances and aptitude, he’s worked with everything really. He’s worked well with speedy mares and he’s worked extremely well with the Galileo line too.”
As for Zarak, Rimaud reported that breeders often get the opposite impression, and added that his pedigree outcross to both Danehill (USA) and Sadler’s Wells (USA) lines also makes him an attractive prospect to Australian breeders.
“Zarak, surprisingly also, physically, people assimilate a horse by Dubawi being small, for some reason. They tend to assume he’s going to be small and want to send big mares to him.
“But, he’s actually quite a good size and he produces horses with size. Maybe it comes from the distaff side of his family. Zarkava is not very tall herself but she has produced horses with good size.”
Zarkava (Ire) | Image courtesy of Aga Khan Studs
When it comes to matching pedigrees, Rimaud said that the same phenomenon which saw Siyouni rise from a low service fee has meant that both stallions were sent a variety of mares in their first few years, and early results show no sign of a preference for Zarak.
“I would definitely put a bit of speed in the pedigree,” he added. “Zarak is a mile-and-a-half Group 1 winner, he was precocious, he won at two, he has amazing acceleration, but I think adding a little bit of speed in the pedigree would be of use.
“He’s also been an improver of the quality of his mares, so right now I wouldn’t hesitate using him for anything - though it’s easy for me to say that!”
