Dual Derby winner Harzand retired to stud

Epsom and Irish Derby champion Harzand will not race next year after being retired to stand as a stallion at owner the Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud in Ireland it was announced on Monday.
Harzand — whose last start was a disappointing ninth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe earlier this month — delivered top Irish trainer Dermot Weld his first ever win in the Epsom Derby in June.
Ridden by Pat Smullen it was a remarkable performance as he had been a doubtful starter up to an hour before the race having spread a plate (lost his shoe) on the flight over from Ireland.
However, he made light of the pre-race concerns to beat the favourite US Army Ranger by 1 1/2 lengths and give the Aga Khan a fifth win equalling his grandfather’s tally.
“He’s been a wonderful horse to train. I’ve enjoyed training him. He’s won two Derbies for us. He’s a beautifully-made colt, very sound,” Weld told At The Races.
“It’s been a team effort. It hasn’t been the easiest — when he spread the plate before Epsom it was nerve-racking — but it was his guts and courage that won the day.”
The Aga Khan bought back Gilltown Stud in 1992 — having sold it in 1974 — following the kidnapping of another of his Epsom Derby winners Shergar, who was taken in 1983 from Ballymany Stud, which he has since sold.