TWO recent big race winners share one thing in common, both descend from female lines that have long been associated with the Aga Khan. The stories of Helene Paragon and Whisky Baron, winners in Hong Kong and South Africa, are also very different.

Helene Paragon was formerly known as Sir Andrew and it was with that name that he started his racing career in France. He did not win as a two-year-old, though he gave an indication that he was of above average ability when his sole placing came in a listed race, appropriately sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, over a mile at Bordeaux Le Bouscat. It was on his debut and he was denied victory by just a neck.