Undefeated Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-G1) heroine ZARKAVA (Zamindar)
foaled a bay colt by European superstar SEA THE STARS on February 11 at the Aga
Khan’s Haras de Bonneval in Normandy.
“He is a strong colt who looks like his sire and is very correct,” said
Georges Rimaud, French manager of the Aga Khan Studs. “It was a straight forward
foaling and both the mare and foal are fine.”
Zarkava won all seven career starts, highlighted by an emphatic
come-from-behind score in the 2008 Arc over males. The $4.7-million earner also
registered wins in the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) (Fr-G1), Poule d’Essai des
Pouliches (French One Thousand Guineas) (Fr-G1), Prix Vermeille (Fr-G1), Prix
Marcel Boussac (Fr-G1) and Prix de la Grotte (Fr-G3).
Sea the Stars, a Cape Cross (Ire) half-brother to classic winner and leading
sire Galileo (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells), bankrolled more than $6.8 million while
turning in one of the most memorable undefeated campaigns in modern European
racing history in 2009. In addition to the Arc, Sea the Stars claimed victory in
the Epsom Derby (Eng-G1), Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1), Eclipse S. (Eng-G1),
Irish Champion S. (Ire-G1) and Juddmonte International S. (Eng-G1).
Sea the Stars was produced by the 1993 Arc-winning filly and blue hen Urban
Sea (Miswaki).
Zarkava has now produced two offspring by Arc winners after producing a filly
by 2003 Arc hero Dalakhani last year.
The newly-born Sea the Stars–Zarkava colt has been the subject of ante-post
wagering in England for some time. When it was announced that Zarkava would be
bred to Sea the Stars, some bookmaking firms began offering odds on the
resulting foal winning the 2014 edition of the Arc.