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If she was mine, I’d have retired her.
She has nothing to prove. And a filly as, um, erratic as her could be a liability if kept in training.
It makes you appreciate how amazing it was that Lord Derby kept Ouija Board in training after her injury.
As a racing fan I am gutted. As a realist I am not surprised given the Aga Khan’s general stance on training/breeding.
When i’m being emotional about it I completely agree with Equitracks sentiments. However, when thinking about it rationally (Not as a horse racing fan!) I think you need to take a long term view. If she were to be killed in a racing accident or in training you would have lost a once in a decade filly (Perhaps even longer) and losing that bloodline would be a difficult blow to take. The Aga Khan’s breeding policies stand up on the track and therefore remain attractive. Zarkava could produce the next champion horse or perhaps more importantly, a champion sire.
An unpopular but understandable decision.
Jim McGrath is hardly famed for his sensibility though, is he? To be honest I find very little worth in anything he has to say, and his most recent comments are as absurd as the notion that he’s a valuable member of the Channel 4 racing team.
If you are fortunate enough to own a Ferrari or Aston Martin, do you keep it under lock and key so as not to risk chipping the paint or damaging the engine? Do you spend countless hours waxing lyrical to your golf-club friends about the mechanical masterpiece sitting at home, having never taken it out of the garage? Of course you don’t. As soon as you turn that key you are ready to, potentially, throw more than £100,000 away for the sake of selfish pleasures, but you do it because that’s the very reason you bought it. Perhaps the example of a kit car, which many people spend tens of thousands of pounds and hundreds of man hours on, is a more pertinent comparison to racing ownership, but the principle remains the same.
No fan of horseracing could ever consider the action of retiring an unbeaten, Arc-winning filly as ‘welcome’ and such decisions are taken to the detriment of the sport. And, when we’re treated to the all too familiar ‘no one will regret this more than me’ line, you begin to wonder exactly why you hold this sport so dear. Had the Aga Khan showed a little humility, admitted that the Arc is the only race he cares about winning and that Zarkava would be retired because she’d achieved all that he wanted her to, then I might have a degree of respect for him.
Perhaps it is the pretense that it was a difficult decision for him to retire her that annoys me so much, I don’t know, but there is little logic in the assessment of risk factors either. Obviously any horse can fall victim to injury, but why would that be any different now to at any stage of her career? She was unbeaten as a juvenile, and clearly top class, so why race her at three if the maintenance of almost regal bloodlines is your only concern? Why run her again as a three-year-old once you knew she had trained on, and could therefore produce potential Classic-winning progeny?
And why is life-threatening injury any less likely now that she has been retired? She could irreparably damage herself cantering round a field or when kicking out in her stable, and is presumably at huge risk (albeit ‘normal’) during pregnancy and when giving birth. If, god forbid, Zarkava fails to survive the delivery of a foal by Dalakhani, is racing any better off? Or has it been denied the opportunity to watch one of the most exciting animals of recent times proving herself against the best the world has to offer, prior to hopefully producing sons/daughters of a similar quality?
All the Aga Khan’s horses are are trophies, trophies only he gets to enjoy, and he’s too cowardly as to be able to admit it. I sometimes fail to agree with the decision to retire colts after their Classic season – lest they continue to win at the highest level – but in purely commercial terms I can understand it (not that the revenue it generates benefits me in any way, and as such I can only look at events from the perspective of a fan). With fillies, especially ones retired to a private breeding operation, there’s no such excuses.
Extremely disappointing, no matter how predictable it may have been. Racehorses are born to race (much like Ronseal, they do exactly what it says on the tin), and preventing them from doing so when they remain healthy beggars belief, and defies all sense.
Again, another perfect summation of the situation Equitrack – I agree with every word you have said.
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I had wondered whether it was ‘Aussie Jim’ or ‘Timeform Jim’ before posting, but reasoned that the latter was far more likely to pen an article for the Telegraph. The very subject of this thread should have told me that common sense is all very well in theory, though I still maintain that Channel 4’s reject from the McGrath Project – it can’t be a coincidence that two people with the same name are both hopelessly uninspiring – isn’t worth listening to
I understand what you’re saying, Aragorn, but what is the point of having a horse like Zarkava if she’s not allowed to do what she was bred to do? Maintaining high class bloodlines is ultimately pointless if the supposed champions it produces are only seen half a dozen times.
As I have said I don’t always agree with the decision to retire colts after their three-year-old season either, but commerically it has its advantages. Fillies are different, drastically so in my view, and I still can’t condone the actions of the Aga Khan in this instance. Zarkasha (who has some spectacular names in her pedigree) clearly isn’t devoid of healthy genes, having produced Zarkava already, so why not allow perhaps the best filly since Miesque and Bosra Sham the chance to shine on the international stage?
Keeping high class bloodlines is ‘commendable’ if it is, utlimately, to the greater good of racing. But how can this be true of such a small operation, who are quite prepared to deprive racing of the spectacle of watching truly astonishing horses? After all, it’s not as though fillies and mares can produce high volumes of potentially top class stock.
On his website the Aga Khan says:
"…In a traditional breeding operation like ours the quality of the broodmares is primary, and that is why the Arc is so important. What is really exciting about Zarkava, and also recently about Dalakhani, is that they both go back to base mares in the Boussac and Aga Khan lines…"
That small extract tells you all you need to know about what really influences his decision-making – tradition (and the belief that winning the Arc is the pinnacle of equine achievement). Such sentiment is fine, even enchanting, when it involves your great grandad’s silver snuff box that stopped a bullet at Omaha Beach, but I just can’t comprehend its use as an excuse for the premature retirement of a phenomenal talent.
I suspect that, in reality, the Aga Khan has little regret in retiring Zarkava. She’s another trophy to add to the stud’s illustrious history, and affords him the chance to bask in the glow of self-satisfaction given that he’s ‘successfully’ continued the work of his forefathers.
JA McGrath, in today’s Telegraph, calls the news ‘welcome’.
While most of us can understand the reasons why she’s been retired, for those racing fans who have no vested interest in her stud career there is no logical reason why one would ‘welcome’ the news that a horse whose continued participation would hve been a huge point of interest in 2009 has been retired.
Agreed, Corm.
Racing needs superstars. Look at the public interest generated by Kauto Star and Denman prior to last years Gold Cup.
A work colleague, who has no interest in racing, watched the Arc and the first thing he said to me on Monday was "Did you see Zarkova (that’s how he pronounced it) yesterday?"
A few of my friends asked me about her and they also have no real interest in the sport.
She had the ability to attract people to the sport and racing enthusiasts would’ve flocked to see her next year.
How any racing enthusiast can consider this to be ‘welcome news’ is beyond me.
Someone commented on Lord Derby’s decision to keep Ouija Board in training. You’re spot-on. How many top class mares, in recent years, have raced as a 5YO? Ouija Board was ambitiously campaigned and her connections deserve huge credit for sharing her with the entire world.
Zarkava was a brilliant filly and a joy to watch. It’s just a shame she’ll never be given the opportunity to fulfil her full potential.
A pathetic, cowardly decision. The Aga Khan doesn’t deserve her brilliance.
Zarkava is the biggest waste of supreme talent I’ve ever seen.
I fully agree with those statements. All those folks who keep saying that Zarkava has “nothing left to prove” have tunnel vision.
Who knows, the flat racing season of 2009 could well throw out another exceptional equine talent and then people would be saying things like “If only *blah blah* could’ve clashed with Zarkava” and so on.My bottom line is – we’ll never know how good Zarkava is! … Just like Golden Fleece!
The Aga Khan ought to buy himself a chicken suit and flap around in it!
Sea Biscuit, Pharlap etc became legends and then movie stars.
We will not see a movie made of Zarkava, the romance and history that was hers to make has been denied.
We all love extraordinary ability and Zarkava will just fade into oblivian unless she is able to produce stakes winners.
Her place amongst equine superstars will never be fully known.JA McGrath, in today’s Telegraph, calls the news ‘welcome’.
While most of us can understand the reasons why she’s been retired, for those racing fans who have no vested interest in her stud career there is no logical reason why one would ‘welcome’ the news that a horse whose continued participation would hve been a huge point of interest in 2009 has been retired.
Probably an error in transcription or a spellcheck episode. I’d be pretty certain "Aussie Jim" meant to say "unwelcome"!
Simplistically; he’s getting on, he doesn’t have to sell the off spring to survive, maybe he wants to see the offspring run so why wait another year? His horse – he is free to do whatever he likes. Yes as racegoers we may feel deprived of more fabulous race experiences, but should also be grateful for seeing as much as we did.
Sea Biscuit, Pharlap etc became legends and then movie stars.
We will not see a movie made of Zarkava, the romance and history that was hers to make has been denied.
We all love extraordinary ability and Zarkava will just fade into oblivian unless she is able to produce stakes winners.
Her place amongst equine superstars will never be fully known.Fade? Fade?
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JA McGrath, in today’s Telegraph, calls the news ‘welcome’.
While most of us can understand the reasons why she’s been retired, for those racing fans who have no vested interest in her stud career there is no logical reason why one would ‘welcome’ the news that a horse whose continued participation would hve been a huge point of interest in 2009 has been retired.
Agreed, Corm.
Racing needs superstars. Look at the public interest generated by Kauto Star and Denman prior to last years Gold Cup.
A work colleague, who has no interest in racing, watched the Arc and the first thing he said to me on Monday was "Did you see Zarkova (that’s how he pronounced it) yesterday?"
A few of my friends asked me about her and they also have no real interest in the sport.
She had the ability to attract people to the sport and racing enthusiasts would’ve flocked to see her next year.
How any racing enthusiast can consider this to be ‘welcome news’ is beyond me.
Someone commented on Lord Derby’s decision to keep Ouija Board in training. You’re spot-on. How many top class mares, in recent years, have raced as a 5YO? Ouija Board was ambitiously campaigned and her connections deserve huge credit for sharing her with the entire world.
Zarkava was a brilliant filly and a joy to watch. It’s just a shame she’ll never be given the opportunity to fulfil her full potential.
Horse Racing is mainly insular, simple; a lot of the people involved in it don’t see the ‘bigger picture’. I might be generalising, but it seems Flat racing especially is guilty of this – business first , sport second. Why would any of the big owner/breeders be interested whether one of their horses had capture the public’s imagination?
I can see pros and cons for retiring the filly. But you have to remember from the Aga Khans point of view, he has invested this money and wants to enjoy his sport, but your talking this filly will probably produce a maximum of 20 offspring.
It is going to be a lot more difficult for her to produce arc winners or derby winners than the likes of Dylan Thomas or Galileo who will go through 20 mares in a week.
I just hope she turns out to be as good as the last filly to win the arc, who produced the fabulous Galileo.
I would love to have seen her run in England as I think she would have mopped up, improvement or not.
Thats life..
20 is going it a bit!
I read somewhere that 6 to 7 healthy foals is the about lifetime average for a mare.
Sea Biscuit, Pharlap etc became legends and then movie stars.
We will not see a movie made of Zarkava, the romance and history that was hers to make has been denied.
We all love extraordinary ability and Zarkava will just fade into oblivian unless she is able to produce stakes winners.
Her place amongst equine superstars will never be fully known.I fully understand your feelings and she could indeed fade into oblivian.
There is no guarantee her offspring will be any good, no guarantee at all.
Aragorn’s summing up says it all as sad as is mifght be. As you have heard many times before "That’s racing" The team have years of experience and I am sure sentiment is not a factor these days for the Aga Khan. They made business decision and as much as we may not like it they more than likely made the best decision finacially.
It is by no means certain Zarkava would have been as good at four.
Fact is she is not very big, and smallish fillies often do not train on.
Fact is she has shown signs of temperament on her last two runs. Lost a lot of ground at the start on her penultimate start, staying in the stalls for some time. In the Arc she looked to run out (go back to the paddock), swerving and almost getting rid of her jockey. There is a distinct possibility (not probability) her temperament will get worse next year if kept in training. As it is now, we will all remember her as an unbeaten wonderful filly, capable of outstanding form at a mile or mile and a half.
I myself, as a racing fan, would love to be able to see her race next season. But if I were in the Aga’s shoes, I’d have come to the same conclusion as he did. An understandable decision.
Ouija Board was a very good filly, tough genuine and reliable. It was also possible she might improve at four. But she was not unbeaten or as good as Zarkava, who is already an exceptional filly. Unlikely to improve further, indeed quite likely to regress in both form and temperament.
If she were to have a poor four year old campaign we’d all ask “was she really that good? Only beating a German horse (It’s Gino) who had not looked top class before, by 2 ½ lengths”. Youmzain too had been beaten 2 lengths before by other top class racehorses.
These are not my opinions of the form, but might be what anyone might think in hindsight, after a poor four year old campaign.So why not retire her unbeaten and thought of as the best filly since Allez France? Apart from money which the Aga Khan does not need, there is little to gain in keeping her in training and a lot to lose.
Mark
Value Is EverythingI can see pros and cons for retiring the filly. But you have to remember from the Aga Khans point of view, he has invested this money and wants to enjoy his sport, but your talking this filly will probably produce a maximum of 20 offspring.
It is going to be a lot more difficult for her to produce arc winners or derby winners than the likes of Dylan Thomas or Galileo who will go through 20 mares in a week.
I just hope she turns out to be as good as the last filly to win the arc, who produced the fabulous Galileo.
I would love to have seen her run in England as I think she would have mopped up, improvement or not.
Thats life..
20 foals doesn’t happen. Eleven months per foal wouldn’t leave her much time for reflection
I’m sure the Aga Khan will be over the moon with eight healthy ones.
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