- Darshaan
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Darshaan Sire Shirley Heights Grandsire Mill Reef Dam Delsy Damsire Abdos Sex Stallion Foaled 1981 Country Great Britain Colour Bay Breeder HH Aga Khan IV Owner HH Aga Khan IV Trainer Alain de Royer-Dupré Record 8: 5-0-1 Earnings €281.573 Major wins Critérium de Saint-Cloud (1983)
French Classic Race wins:
Prix Hocquart (1984)
Prix Greffulhe (1984)
Prix du Jockey Club (1984)Awards French Champion Three-Year-Old (1984)
European Champion Three-Year-Old Stayer (1984)
Leading broodmare sire in Britain & Ireland (2002)
Leading sire in France (2003)Horse (Equus ferus caballus) Darshaan (April 18, 1981 - May 21, 2001) was an French Thoroughbred racehorse and a Champion sire and broodmare sire. Bred and raced by the Aga Khan IV, he was out of the French mare, Delsy, a daughter of the 1961 Grand Critérium winner, Abdos. His sire was the British stallion, Shirley Heights, winner of the 1978 Epsom Derby and the last Epsom Derby winner to be both the son of a previous winner, Mill Reef (1971), and the sire of a subsequent winner, Slip Anchor (1985).
Trained by Alain de Royer-Dupré, Darshaan was ridden by Yves Saint-Martin in all his races. As a two-year-old in 1983 he won the Group 1 Critérium de Saint-Cloud, setting a race record time of 2:07.40 for 2,000 metres that still stands going into to 2010. At age three, Darshaan earned 1984 French Champion Three-Year-Old and European Champion Three-Year-Old Stayer honors [1] following victories in the 1984 Prix Hocquart, Prix Greffulhe, and the French Classic, the Prix du Jockey Club.
Champion sire
Darshaan was an outstanding sire who stood at stud at the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud farm, in County Kildare, Ireland. The leading sire in France in 2003, among his progeny were:
- Hellenic (b.1987) - won G1 Yorkshire Oaks
- Kotashaan (b. 1988) - winner of five Group 1 races in the United States including the Breeders' Cup Turf and San Juan Capistrano Handicap;
- Key Change (b. 1993) - won G1 Yorkshire Oaks;
- Mark of Esteem (b. 1993) - won the British Classic 2,000 Guineas Stakes, and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes;
- Mutamam (b. 1995) - won G1 Canadian International;
- Cerulean Sky (b. 1996) - won G1 Prix Saint-Alary;
- Dilshaan (b. 1998) - won G1 Racing Post Trophy;
- Olden Times (b. 1998) - won G1 Prix Jean Prat;
- Dalakhani (b. 2000) - the 2003 European Horse of the Year. Wins included the Prix du Jockey Club and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe;
- Mezzo Soprano (b. 2000) - won G1 Prix Vermeille;
- Necklace (b. 2001) - won G1 Moyglare Stud Stakes.
Champion broodmare sire
Darshaan daughters made him the leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland in 2002. He was the damsire of Group 1 winners:
- Ebabyia (b. 1994) - winner of the 1997 Prix Royal-Oak and Irish Oaks;
- Zainta (b. 1995), winner of the French Classic, Prix de Diane (1998);
- Enzeli (b. 1995), winner of the 1999 Ascot Gold Cup;
- Edabyia (b. 1996), won the 1998 Moyglare Stud Stakes;
- Marienbard (b. 1997) - won Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe;
- Sendawar (b. 1996), winner of the 1999 Poule d'Essai des Poulains;
- High Chaparral (b. 1999) - won Epsom Derby(2002), Irish Derby Stakes (2002), Breeders' Cup Turf (2002, 2003);
- Darsi (b. 2003), winner of the 2006 Prix du Jockey Club.
At age twenty, Darshaan was humanely euthanized following problems stemming from a ruptured duodenum.
Pedigree of Darshaan Sire
Shirley HeightsMill Reef Never Bend Nasrullah Lalun Milan Mill Princequillo Virginia Water Hardiemma Hardicanute Hard Ridden Harvest Maid Grand Cross Grandmaster Blue Cross Dam
DelsyAbdos Arbar Djebel Astronomie Pretty Lady Umidwar La Moqueuse Kelty Venture Relic Rose O'Lynn Marilla Marsyas Albanilla References
Categories:- 1981 racehorse births
- 2001 racehorse deaths
- Thoroughbred racehorses
- Racehorses bred in France
- Racehorses trained in France
- French racehorses
- French Thoroughbred Classic Race winners
- French Champion racehorses
- British Champion Thoroughbred broodmare sires
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