Prix du Jockey Club winner and Arc runner-up Vadeni (Fr), who also landed the Eclipse S. at Sandown in a spellbinding 3-year-old campaign, has been retired.
The highest rated son of Churchill (Ire) won five times for Jean-Claude Rouget and carried the colours of the Aga Khan. He will join the stallion ranks at Haras de Bonneval, where he will stand alongside Siyouni (Fr), Zarak (Fr) and Dariyan (Fr). No fee has been decided on yet.
Georges Rimaud, manager for the Aga Khan Studs in France, commented, “We are delighted to have Vadeni join the team at Haras de Bonneval and he will come to stud with a very exciting profile. 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 S., and placed in both the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Irish Champion S.
“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.”
Vadeni's Eclipse victory bridged a 62-year gap to the last French-trained winner of the Group 1 contest at Sandown. It was also a first UK winner for the Aga Khan since Harzand (Ire) won the Derby in 2016.
Rimaud added, “He is everything you would want in a racehorse-precocious, fast, sound and consistent, and a dual Group 1 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 (Ire) and Monsun (Ger)–so he boasts an excellent pedigree to go with his race record.”
One of six winners from six to race for the winning Monsun mare Vaderana (Fr), Vadeni is a half-brother to the stakes-placed duo of Vadiyann (Fr) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) and Vadsena (Fr) (Makfi {GB}). His granddam is G1 Prix Saint-Alary heroine Vadawina (Ire) (Unfuwain), who threw three stakes winners including the Group 2 winner Vadamar (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}), who was third in the G1 Gran Premio di Milano, and G3 Tyros S. hero The Pentagon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), third in the G1 Racing Post Trophy S.
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