THE green and red racing silks of the Aga Khan Studs enjoyed a memorable couple of hours on Arc Trials day at ParisLongchamp on Sunday, with three successive group winners, and all doing so with great panache.

The gelded three-year-old Erdenali (Caravaggio) was seemingly being asked a lot to tackle his first Group 1 against a trio of high-class winners already at that level, Gstaad, Opera Ballo and Ten Bob Tony, given that he had lost his unbeaten run of three victories on his previous outing, beaten in a blanket finish in the Group 3 Prix Messidor by Silius. That had been his first run in a pattern race, and back in June he took the honours in a listed race in Deauville.

While his form was smart, Erdenali still looked to have it all to do, but he made quite an impression when replicating his grandam’s win in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp, breaking both the course and race record in the process and giving the Aga Khan family a record eighth success in the feature. This was a fourth Group 1 win in two months for the Aga Khan Studs with four different horses, and their eighth top-level win of the year – matching their haul of 2025.

If all goes to plan, Erdenali could add further top-flight success before the year end, and will now be aimed at the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Racing manager Nemone Routh said after the race: “He doesn’t show much at home. If you had seen him work this week you would not have been particularly impressed, but it all comes together in the afternoon. We wanted to see if he was a Group 1 horse and he’s proved that resoundingly, I think. He can do anything as he’s a very relaxed horse. He was green early on in his career but proved he’s special today.”

Erdenali is the first foal out of the Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) mare Erdana. She looks as though she might have been the polar opposite of her son, showing at home that she had ability, but producing nothing in three starts on the track. Even so, she was worth a place at stud, and has repaid the belief connections had in her. She has a two-year-old son by Zarak (Dubawi), and her third offspring foaled in the spring is a colt by Night Of Thunder (Dubawi).

Little surprise

It is little surprise that the matings team at the Aga Khan Studs are using sons of Dubawi (Dubai Millennium). Erdenali’s dam is a half-sister to young sire Erevann (Dubawi) who stands at their Haras de Bonneval and has been well supported in his first three seasons. He has been standing for a fee of €8,000 since going to stud, and 14 yearlings from his first crop have been sold already this year, and for an encouraging average of more than €58,000.

Here is another example of the astuteness of the late Aga Khan IV, his and his daughter Princess Zahra’s careful cultivation of a line, and their mixing with sires produced by other leading breeders whose families they admired. Erdenali traces back to the winning mare Eunomia (Abdos) who was born half a century ago. She was another gem included in the package bought from Marcel Boussac.

Eunomia was a typically inbred Boussac product, and her seven winners included the Italian Group 1 winner Erdelistan (Lashkari), who stood in Ireland and sired a decent chaser in Grade 3 winner and Grade 1-placed Jack High. However, Eunomia’s lasting legacy to the Aga Khan Studs was as the dam of 1984 Group 3 Prix de Royallieu winner Euliya, from the first crop of Top Ville (High Top).

Ervedya emerged

It is from this line that the 2015 Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches-French 1000 Guineas heroine Ervedya emerged.

She was a first-crop daughter of Haras de Bonneval’s Siyouni (Pivotal), a product of the Jean-Luc Lagardère stock, combined with the influences of Top Ville, a representative of Francois Dupré’s breeding, and Marcel Boussac further back. There are a number of representatives of this family, all descending from Ervedya’s dam, the Group 3-placed Elva (King’s Best), within the Aga Khan studbook.

Ervedya won half of her 14 starts, all of these wins coming at two and three. She gained her first Group 1 win in the French classic, reversed two-year-old form with Found when beating her in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, before winning the Prix du Moulin. That prompted her owner to race her at four, but while she was placed in a couple of Group 1s, she did not win again. Erdana and Erevann are the first of her four foals.

Three years at Coolmore, two more at Ashford in the USA before moving to Japan has been the stallion career of the leading sprinter Caravaggio (Scat Daddy). His first crop included Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes and Prix Jean Prat winner Tenebrism, and the dual Grade 1 winner Whitebeam.

Caravaggio’s second and fourth crops did not contain any winner above Group 3 class, but the four-time Group 1 winner was the star of those born in 2021. Now his three-year-olds include Erdenali and the Grade 1 American Turf Stakes-winning colt Stark Contrast.

Daryz completes a day to remember

ON a day to remember – something that we are saying more and more often for runners in the Aga Khan Studs colours – the Group 1 Prix du Moulin victory for Erdenali was followed by Varandir’s victory in the Group 2 Prix Neil. This was another record for the Aga Khan family, their sixth win in the race.

The three-year-old Varandir (Zarak) was making a comeback after finishing fourth in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris, his only defeat in five starts. He made up ground in the last furlong to win going away, and is clearly a horse on the upgrade and with a bright future. After the race, Nemone Routh said: “I think that since his Group 3 victory [Prix Messidor] he has really progressed, both mentally and physically. Obviously, I couldn’t say before the race that we were going to beat the winner of the Irish Derby [Benvenuto Cellini], but we were confident in our horse’s potential.”

Varandir is the 26th pattern winner for Zarak (Dubawi), and the first foal out of Varkesha (Pivotal). She did not race at two, placed once at three, but came into her own at four with three wins, ending with a listed success at ParisLongchamp. She in turn is a daughter of the stakes-placed Varana (Sea The Stars), and from the family of Group 1 Prix de Diane-French Oaks winner Valyra (Azamour) and Group 2 winner Valirann (Nayef) who stands at the Carey’s Tullaghansleek Stud in Ireland.

The last Aga Khan Studs representative on the card was arguably the most important runner of the day, being none other than last year’s Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Daryz (Sea The Stars). He had three opponents, only Group 1 winner Bay City Roller offering a real challenge, but this was an important race as a pipe-opener ahead of his attempt to win back-to-back Arcs. He put up a fine performance to win the Group 2 Prix Foy under hands and heels.

“I couldn’t be happier with this as a trial,” Francis Graffard said. “It’s the perfect prep for the Arc. I left plenty on him, so he should be spot-on for four weeks’ time.” It was Daryz’s eighth success in 11 races, and adds to Group 1 wins in the Prix d’Ispahan and Prix Ganay this year. He is one of six stakes winners out of Group 1 winner Daryakana (Selkirk).