The death of the Aga Khan has been announced at the age of 88. The influential owner/breeder raced several champions and group 1 winners through the decades. Listed below are six of some of the Aga Khan's best horses.
Shergar
Since Shergar's awesome Epsom Derby (G1)-winning campaign in 1981, his name has been a byword for supreme excellence in the middle-distance Thoroughbred.
Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, he scored highly impressive victories in Sandown's Classic Trial Stakes (G3) by 10 lengths, the Chester Vase Stakes (G2) by 12, the Derby by 10 (a record), and the Irish Derby (G1) and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (G1) both by four.
At Epsom, his rapid, scuttling stride took him well clear in the straight, and his margin over Glint of Gold might have been 12 lengths or more had Walter Swinburn not eased him in the final furlong.
On his last start, he could only finish fourth in the St Leger (G1), and his abduction in 1983 added mystery to his legendary status.
Daylami
The only truly great champion bred by the Aga Khan apart from Shergar, Daylami won seven group/grade 1 races and carried the breeder's colors for two seasons, landing the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French Two Thousand Guineas) (G1) in 1997. He was then sold to Sheikh Mohammed and ran for Godolphin, winning the Eclipse Stakes (G1) in 1998 and becoming the 1999 Horse of the Year in both Europe and the United States.
The tough, powerful 5-year-old gray crushed his rivals by five lengths in the 1999 King George VI and Elizabeth Diamond Stakes and nine lengths in the 1999 Irish Champion Stakes (G1). He also beat Royal Anthem in the 1999 Coronation Cup (G1) and Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) at Gulfstream Park, before retiring to the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud.
Charlottesville
The Aga Khan inherited Charlottesville from his father, Prince Aly Khan, and the colt became perhaps the best horse to race anywhere in the world in 1960.
Trained by Alec Head and ridden by George Moore, he triumphed by three lengths in both the Prix du Jockey Club and the Grand Prix de Paris in the style of an exceptional middle-distance stayer. He started favorite for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe but finished only sixth on rain-sodden ground. He became champion sire in Britain and Ireland.
Had he not won France's two most important races for 3-year-olds, his young owner might have sold up.
Sinndar
The only horse to win the Epsom Derby (G1), Irish Derby (G1), and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Sinndar was a pure mile-and-a-half horse, the official European champion 3-year-old of 2000.
In the Derby, he caught Sakhee—the brilliant 2001 Arc winner—inside the final furlong and scored by a length in one of the highest-quality runnings in the race's history.
He put up an even better performance when striding away for a nine-length victory in the Irish Derby and became the first Aga Khan colt to win the Arc. He was trained by John Oxx.
Zarkava
The 2008 European champion 3-year-old filly and Horse of the Year, Zarkava retired as an undefeated Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, and eclipsed her own fifth dam Petite Etoile as the best of all the Aga Khan's fillies.
Trained by Alain de Royer-Dupre and ridden in all her seven races by Christophe Soumillon, she was a champion in both her seasons, winning the Prix Marcel Boussac (G1) in 2007 and then the 2008 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches by two lengths from Goldikova, the Prix de Diane (G1) by three lengths, and the Prix Vermeille (G1) and the Arc by two lengths each.
Shahrastani
It would have been better for Shahrastani's reputation if he had lost the 1986 Derby instead of beating the luckless Dancing Brave by half a length. He would have been revered as one of the best ever Derby runners-up, instead of being among the race's least deserving winners.
Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, the son of Nijinsky proved himself a genuine star with a spectacular eight-length demolition job in the Irish Derby, and was then fourth behind Dancing Brave in vintage editions of both the King George and the Arc. At his best, he was superior to most winners of those races.
