Vadeni retired to stand at Aga Khan’s stud

PA Sport Reporters
August 16, 2023 11:19 am

Last year’s Arc runner-up failed to reach same heights this season.

Last year’s Prix du Jockey Club and Coral-Eclipse winner Vadeni has been retired to stand at stud.

Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget and owned by the Aga Khan, the son of Churchill finished second to Alpinista in last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triopmphe.

He was also third to Luxembourg in the Irish Champion Stakes but finished a long way behind that same rival when last seen in the Tattersalls Gold Cup and connections have decided now is the best time for him to head to the Aga Khan’s Haras de Bonneval stud to stand as a stallion.

“We are delighted to have Vadeni join the team at Haras de Bonneval, and he will come to stud with a very exciting profile,” said Georges Rimaud, the owner’s racing manager on www.agakhanstuds.com.

“A Stakes winner at two, he showed a fantastic turn of foot to win the Prix du Jockey Club by a record five-length margin at three, proved the best of a stellar field in the Eclipse Stakes, and placed in both the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Irish Champion Stakes.

“He showed a great constitution and temperament that enabled him to perform with distinction at the highest level not just in France but also in Ireland and the UK.

“He is everything you would want in a racehorse – precocious, fast, sound and consistent, and a dual Group One winner. After two busy seasons, he ran a great race to come second in the Arc in testing conditions on his first try at 12 furlongs, and it possibly took more out of him than we thought. We have therefore taken the decision to retire him now and focus on the next chapter ahead of him.

“Like Siyouni, he hails from a prolific Lagardère family that consistently produces good horses, and he is bred on the successful cross of Galileo and Monsun – so he boasts an excellent pedigree to go with his race record.”