INTERNATIONAL RACING COMMUNITY IS AWAITING A BIG CALL ON THE FUTURE OF TWO-TIME ARC WINNER DARYZ

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 7, 2026

The flood of praise which followed Daryz’s second win in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday has quickly been replaced by speculation on Daryz’s future on the race-track, with an announcement in that regard expected to be made by the end of the week.

When Daryz’s owner/breeder Princess Zahra Aga Khan gave her perspective of the options that lie ahead for the champion racehorse, the clear suggestion there was that retirement …and moving on to a much anticipated career at stud … is likely to be the favoured route the ownership group will elect to take with the son of Sea The Stars, who himself was himself an Arc winner.

“Look, we are breeders, and you get to the point where you are taking a risk every time you run the horse. Would we want him to train on for another year? I’m not sure. I think he has other things to do.”

If Sunday was indeed a signature, signing off performance for Daryz, he could not have gone out on higher note.

His retirement would be racing’s loss as far as elite action on the racetrack is concerned, but the memory of his last victory will long live in the memory of those who witnessed a run which secured Daryz his prominent, permanent place in the rich history of the famous race as the Arc favourite, carrying the green with red epaulettes and green cap colours of Aga Khan studs, put his name in the record books as the first runner to complete back-to-back wins in the Arc since Enable in 2018 and the first colt to claim that distinction since Alleged, all of the way back in 1978

The win was smooth … uncomplicated … and supreme.

You can apply those three adjectives to describe the magnificent effort of Daryz … to honour the inspiring expertise of Daryz’s trainer Francis-Henri Graffard … and to acknowledge the cool brilliance of Daryz’s jockey Mickael Barzalona.

The team was simply superb at Paris Longchamp. In truth, they are all champions and their collective input in the preparation, the planning and the execution of the strategy shone through as brightly as the spotlight that was firmly focussed on the Arc favourite throughout the week.

And that spotlight is still in focus … as we wait for a formal announcement on the future of Daryz, which is reported to be imminent.