Daryz ‘really well’ after Arc heroics, but no decision yet on future plans

A next step has yet to be confirmed for Daryz after his “poetic” success for the Aga Khan Studs in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

The three-year-old colt has a pedigree that seemed destined to lead him to ParisLongchamp on the first weekend of October, with his sire the great Arc winner Sea The Stars and his dam Daryakana, a Longchamp heroine herself on that weekend in 2009.

He is the result of years of thoughtful breeding by the late Aga Khan IV, who died aged 88 in February and whose daughter Princess Zahra was in attendance alongside trainer Francis-Henri Graffard, on what was a poignant day for all involved.

“It was a very, very special and emotional day for the whole team and I think people that were at the races could feel that,” said Nemone Routh, director and French racing manager for the stud.

“We came into the race without a huge amount of pressure because we weren’t one of the favourites, but we were hopeful because we also knew Daryz was very well.

“We were pretty confident he was going to stay the mile and a half because of his breeding, he had a good draw and we knew he’d handle the ground.

“I think our only only worry was whether he was mature enough and whether he would take the early stages of the race well enough. If he’d started pulling in that ground, going first time over that distance, that would have been problematic, but he was very relaxed in the preliminaries and he was very professional throughout the day.

“Francis and Mickael (Barzalona, jockey) both said the same thing, that whilst nothing went to plan when we went to York (last in the Juddmonte International), the one thing that it did do is it gave him the experience he needed to be competitive on the big stage yesterday.

“He really grew up after that race, having seen a big crowd and having had that kind of experience, he was like a different horse in his last two runs.

“He hasn’t pulled, he’s been much more relaxed. He’s been much more mature which means he’s able to show his full potential, because he is a very talented horse and we’ve always thought so.

“When I was driving into the office on Friday I suddenly realised that his sire and his dam won over the same Arc weekend. They’re the same age, so when they were both three, Sea The Stars won the Arc and his dam Daryakana won the Prix de Royallieu, which at the time was a Group Two over a mile and a half.

“How beautiful is that? Their son lining up with a chance of the race and then for him to win it, it was like he was born to run and win this race. It’s a really poetic moment, it’s all very cyclical.”

Daryz does not have any firm plans in his diary and is of course a valuable breeding prospect now, with connections intending to let the dust settle before making any decisions regarding his future.

“Whilst we were hopeful yesterday and it wasn’t a surprise to us that he won, you can’t be starting to plan things until something like that occurred,” Routh said.

“We will regroup at some stage this week and discuss his future, no decision has been made yet.

“The horse has come out of the race really well. He ate up, he’s sound. He didn’t appear to have a particularly hard race. We’ll be sitting down, Princess Zahra and Francis and the team, we will put our heads together about what we think the right thing to do is, but we certainly haven’t made any decisions yet.”