Derby great goes to Gilltown
THE Aga Khan Studs have announced that dual Derby winner Harzand will join their Gilltown Stud roster for the 2017 season.
The handsome son of Sea The Stars achieved an exceptional feat when winning both the Epsom and Irish Derbies, making him the leading colt of his generation in Europe over the classic distance of a mile-and-a-half.
Pat Smullen declared after Harzand’s second Group 1 victory: “I don’t think I’ve ever ridden such a courageous horse. I just can’t get over his courage in the last half-furlong. He’s so tough and he’s not just tough, he’s got pace.”
His trainer Dermot Weld, who won his first Epsom Derby with Harzand, said after his victory in the Irish equivalent: “It was a magnificent race and he showed speed today. The first two improved considerably from Epsom. They didn’t just quicken once, they quickened twice.”
Harzand was also successful at Group level over ten furlongs, and the classy colt won four races during a four-month period in the first semester of 2016, culminating in his Derby double.
In lifting the Epsom Derby, Harzand took after his father, the champion racehorse and top sire Sea The Stars. The son of Urban Sea is currently ranked third-leading European sire and now counts five Group 1 winners, including Taghrooda, young sire Sea The Moon and this year’s Group 1 winning miler Zelzal among his offspring.
Sea The Stars has produced a remarkable ratio of 12.1pc Stakes winners to runners with his first four crops, a ratio only bettered by Dubawi at the same stage in their career.
Harzand himself hails from a strong Aga Khan Studs distaff family, being a son of Hazariya (Xaar), who is a half-sister to Irish Oaks third Hazarista.
Harzand joins Born To Sea and Sea The Stars (IRE) at Gilltown Stud. Breeders are welcome to see him on appointment, notably during the Goffs Breedingstock Sale.
Spectators can go along to support competitors in this year’s ISH Young Breeders National Competition which takes place at Teagasc Kildalton Agricultural College in Piltown, Co Kilkenny, this coming Thursday, November 3.
Open to any individual aged between 13 and 24 years, the competition is aimed at those who are interested in assessing, exhibiting, and breeding performance horses. They do not have to be breeders themselves or come from an equestrian background. An avid interest and an eagerness to participate and learn is all that is required.