Dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Daryz has been retired. He will start a new career at stud with Aga Khan Studs next year.
The news comes five days after the four-year-old won the Arc for a second year running at ParisLongchamp, beating Bay City Roller by a length and a quarter. He became only the ninth horse to win the race twice, and the first colt to win back-to-back Arcs since Alleged in 1977 and 1978.
In a statement, Aga Khan Studs described him as “renowned for his exceptional turn of foot”. He joins their stallion roster, and his stud arrangements, including where he will stand and his fee, will be announced later.
Nine wins from 12 starts
Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard and ridden in every race by Mickaël Barzalona, Daryz won nine of his 12 starts and earned almost £5.5 million. Six of those wins came in Group races, four of them at the top level.
- Prix Eugène Adam (Group 2), Saint-Cloud, June 2025: his first Group win, beating Bay City Roller
- Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Group 1), October 2025: beat Minnie Hauk by a head on very soft ground at 12/1
- Prix Ganay (Group 1), April 2026: won by three and a half lengths
- Prix Aga Khan IV (Group 1), May 2026: won by three and a half lengths
- Prix Foy (Group 2), September 2026: Arc trial win over Bay City Roller
- Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Group 1), October 2026: beat Bay City Roller by a length and a quarter
Two of his three defeats came in Britain, both behind Ombudsman. He was sixth in the 2025 Juddmonte International at York and third in this year’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. The other was a short-head second in the Prix du Prince d’Orange at Longchamp, his final run before his first Arc.
No Breeders’ Cup and no five-year-old campaign
Retirement rules out a trip to the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland, for which some bookmakers had cut him to around 10/1 after the Arc. Aga Khan Studs kept him in training after his first Arc win, and that decision was rewarded with three more Group 1 wins this season.
Bred by Aga Khan Studs, Daryz is by the 2009 Arc winner Sea The Stars and out of the Selkirk mare Daryakana. After the Arc, he was closing on Blue Bolt in the Cartier Horse of the Year standings.