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In a controversial decision the Aga Khan, owner of the unbeaten Zarkava, has decided to retire her to stud, just a week after her win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp.
She will be covered by the Aga Khan’s 2003 Arc winner Dalakhani next year.
In a statement the Aga Khan said, "No-one will regret more than my management team and I not to see Zarkava race again, we have decided to retire her to the Aga Khan broodmare band as she will be an invaluable asset to this essential part of our activity."
He continued, "The quality and youth of our broodmare band is of the utmost importance to ensure we remain breeders of racehorses capable of performing at the top level.
"The Aga Khan studs have produced three exceptional fillies in three consecutive years: Mandesha, Darjina and now Zarkava."
Very sad for racing.
Every sport needs its superstars – and her 4yr old season would have really stamped her as one….maybe?
Zip
Maybe they were put off by Darjina’s relative failure as a 4-yo. (Not that I’m suggesting for a minute that Darjina is in the same league as Zarkava).
Very sad to see these horses continually retired before they are even physically mature, and one of the reasons that I prefer National Hunt racing.
Dear me bring on the Charlie Hall.
Wonderful filly mind, I’ll never forget her Arc win.
Top class.
Shame we wont see any more of her.
At the end of the day, they probably view it as she is more valuable to them as a broodmare, rather than possibly being injured in further training or racing.
Controversial ?
Par for the course, I’d say.
I said weeks ago that she’d be packed off to stud if she won the Arc.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
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Pity. However, I wonder if that means that connections are keen on Montmartre’s prospects in 2009?
Controversial ?
Par for the course, I’d say.
I said weeks ago that she’d be packed off to stud if she won the Arc.
This decision doesn’t surprise me at all Himself – and I reached the same conclusion a while back too.
Perhaps I am doing the Aga Khan a disservice here, but I do think he packs his best horses off to stud far too quickly, rather than risk defeat on the racecourse which may detract from their breeding value. Personally, I think that racehorses are for racing and far too often, we hear the same old words "He/she has nothing left to prove".
Zarkava is a great filly, make no mistake, but she never raced outside France and I am not even sure whether she ever raced away from Longchamp. In my opinion, there were plenty more tests that she could have been set (and might well have passed), but presumably, connections were not confident enough of the outcome to even allow her to try. Losing a race is not the end of the world, and no horse is unbeatable.
It is one of the reasons that I really applauded the late John and Jean Hislop, when they elected to continue Brigadier Gerard’s racing career as a 4 year old in 1972.
It would have been so easy for them to trot out "He has nothing left to prove" at the end of his 3 year old career when he was unbeaten in 10 races, but they carried on and this wonderful horse (always my favourite) amassed 17 wins and one second place in 18 starts (Roberto broke the course record at York to beat him by 3 lengths in the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup).I don’t think that defeat in any way took away from the Brigadier’s magnificent racing record (sadly, he was rather less successful as a sire than might have been expected) and I think that it is high time that people like the Aga Khan took a leaf out of Mr and Mrs Hislop’s book.
May be sad for us not to see her again.
Brilliant filly she was but:
Totally the right thing to do commercially (imo).
She is not that big and there is significant doubt she’ll train on at four.
Her temperament seems to be getting worse. What if she runs out or fails to start next season (stays in the stalls)? It would not do her paddock value any good where as now we will remember her as an unbeaten marvellous filly.
Mark
Value Is EverythingFar more risk than reward in keeping a 4-y-o filly like that in training. Neither Mandesha or Darjina excelled themselves and Peeping Fawn and Alexandrova didn’t even make it to the track. She has nothing left to prove.
Commercially the expected decision.
Incidentally Phoenix Tower is injured and has also been retired to stud
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It’s the sort of decision that maintains the racing balance of spectacle and absurdity. Here we have a top class filly, never raced outside of France (and only once away from Longchamp), the equine world at her feet and she’s retired before being granted the opportunity to face challenges a little further from home. There’s no evidence whatsoever to say that she wouldn’t train on as a four-year-old and, despite the occasional slow start, she’s a lot more straight forward than the likes of Darjina.
No-one can say they didn’t expect it, but to have to sit and read the Aga Khan’s predictable ‘no-one will regret it more than me’ speech makes the decision much harder to accept. I suspect the Arc is seen as the ‘be all and end all’ for the Aga Khan though, having retired Sinndar, Dalakhani and now Zarkava almost immediately after winning the race (none of the trio having raced more than nine times).
But I don’t see that it makes perfect commercial sense to not keep Zarkava in training. With colts I can understand that a seemingly sub-standard season will have an adverse effect on subsequent covering fees (Azamour was allowed to continue at four, though he didn’t win the Arc), but how does that equate with fillies in a private breeding operation? Were she to finish second in half a dozen Group 1 races as a four-year-old, is she any less capable of producing top class progeny? As far as I am aware, genes don’t degrade on the basis of physical performance. The Aga Khan will occasionally sell one of his horses, of course he will, but as he breeds primarily for his own use then race records don’t really come into it, do they? If Zarkava produces a top class horse, he keeps it, if not then it will be offloaded to Evan Williams to not win with over hurdles.
If a horse such as Zarkava produced a colt of stunning quality – which there is every chance she will do, given that she’s to be covered by Dalakhani next year – would it ever be sold (thus rendering the decision to retire Zarkava purely economic), or would it be kept to maintain the Aga Khan’s bloodstock standard (thus rendering the decision to retire Zarkava pointless)?
It’s hardly a commercial decision as such, in fact she’ll generate far less cash as a broodmare for her owner than she would if kept in training. The reason the Aga produces such fillies is because he has such a good bloodstock division. That only retains its strength by ensuring the best ones go to stud.
Sad news for the track but exciting news to see she will be covered by Dalakahni.
Two Arc winners producing a future Arc winner? Perfect match
Depressing news, but not unexpected.
Clearly, the Aga Khan doesn’t have the bottle of his father, who campaigned Petite Etoile both as a 4 and 5-y-o. Watching her, with Piggott on board, is a wonderful childhood memory.
As for “…No-one will regret more than my management team and I not to see Zarkava race again….” , well, this is cant. If he really meant that, then he wouldn’t be retiring her would he?
Nothing more to prove? She’s only 3 years old for goodness’ sake, she won the Arc claiming the weight allowance for 3-y-o fillies. She might, or might not, make normal improvement from 3 to 4.
It would have been so easy for them to trot out "He has nothing left to prove" at the end of his 3 year old career when he was unbeaten in 10 races, but they carried on and this wonderful horse (always my favourite) amassed 17 wins and one second place in 18 starts (Roberto broke the course record at York to beat him by 3 lengths in the Benson and Hedges Gold Cup).
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