Paris (AFP) – Apart from being an Islamic spiritual leader, the Aga Khan, who died on Tuesday aged 88, was a byword for the biggest and best in the world of horse racing.
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| The Aga Khan was a central pillar of the racing world since taking over from his father in 1960 © DOMINIQUE FAGET / AFP/File |
He owned stables, stud farms and an auction house, his horses winning many of the great races across seven decades.
AFP look at five things about the Aga Khan's sporting world.
- Winter Olympian -
Before he got into racing, the Aga Khan was already a keen skier. "I like the atmosphere in ski racing," he said. "It is a democratic sport. One's name does not count."
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| The Aga Khan (L) training on the slopes of Val d'Isere with his ski instructor Hans Senger six years after his 1964 venture at the Innsbruck Winter Olympics © - / AFP/File |
While too busy to focus full time on the slopes, he was good enough to train with the Austrian team. In 1962 he participated in the world championships at Chamonix as a member of the British team but two years later opted to compete at the Innsbruck Winter Olympics for Iran.
He finished 53rd out of 96 in the giant slalom and 59th out of 84 in the downhill. "It was respectable if not glorious," he said.
Bloodstock
With his grandfather having owned five Derby winners between 1930 and 1952, racing was certainly in the genes but it was not one of the young Aga Khan's passions.
That changed when he suddenly found himself the steward of the family's bloodstock empire when his father was killed in a car crash in Paris in May 1960, dual Classic winner Petite Etoile among the horses to fall to him.
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| The Aga Khan keeping an eye on the action at the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in July 1961 © - / AFP/File |
After some negotiating with his younger brother Amyn and his half-sister Yasmin, Rita Hayworth's daughter, he acquired their 60 percent interest in the stable at Chantilly.
Over the years he expanded to eight stud farms, four located in Ireland in County Kildare and four in Normandy. He also bought the French auction house Arqana in 2006.
"Thoroughbreds can be either a sportsman's hobby or a business," he said. "Where a large stable and a lot of money are involved, obviously racing is no longer a hobby."
His red and green colours became internationally famous, with the Aga Khan name-checked in Peter Sarstedt's 1969 hit song 'Where Do You Go to My Lovely'.
Winners
The Aga Khan amassed 168 Group One winners over the course of his time in racing.
He won the Epsom Derby five times, with Shergar in 1981 followed by Shahrastani, Kahyasi, Sinndar and Harzand.
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| The Aga Khan was a close friend of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, the pair seen here talking after his horse Harzand won the 2016 Derby at Epsom © GLYN KIRK / AFP/File |
He also won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the top race in France, four times, through Akiyda, Sinndar, Dalakhani and Zarkava.
Very close to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, he gave her several racehorses, including Estimate which gave her perhaps her most enjoyable win in the 2013 Ascot Gold Cup.
- Shergar -
Arguments can rage over which was the greatest of the Aga Khan's horses but there is no doubt about which is the most famous.
In 1981, the Michael Stoute-trained Shergar won five of his six races, including the 202nd Epsom Derby by 10 lengths -- still the biggest winning margin in the historic race -- as well as the Irish Derby and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.
He was retired to the Aga Khan's Ballymany Stud in County Kildare in Ireland whence the four-year-old was kidnapped on February 8, 1983.
The £2 million ransom was not paid and Shergar was never seen again, believed to have been killed when negotiations stalled.
Suspicion fell on the Irish Republican Army which always denied the charge.
"Ireland was a very unhappy country at the time and I don't think you can hold the people of a country responsible for criminal behaviour," said the Aga Khan. "It is ethically wrong."
Yves Saint-Martin
The Aga Khan's horses attracted the very best jockeys. Walter Swinburn rode Shergar to success in the Derby while Johnny Murtagh steered Sinndar to a brilliant treble in 2000, winning the Derby, Irish Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the space of a few months.
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| The Aga Khan IV (R) with Yves Saint-Martin after his victory on Akiyda after their 1982 win at the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe © Philippe BOUCHON / AFP/File |
But French jockey Yves Saint-Martin is perhaps the name most closely associated with him.
He steered Akiyda to the 1982 Arc and also won four Prix du Jockey-Club, with Top Ville in 1979, Darshaan in 1984, Mouktar in 1985 and Natroun in 1987.
Doping
The Aga Khan fell foul of British racing when his filly, Aliysa, was disqualified from the 1989 Oaks after testing positive for camphor, a prohibited substance.
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| Harzand (L) ridden by Pat Smullen gave the Aga Khan his fifth Epsom Derby victory in 2016 © GLYN KIRK / AFP/File |
He felt there were failings in the testing system and removed all of his horses, only ending his boycott at Royal Ascot in 1995. Another positive test in 2000 saw him withdraw his horses from Luca Cumani's stables in Newmarket.
He retained horses with Stoute but focused more on France. It was Irish trainer Dermot Weld who provided a fifth Derby and Irish Derby double in 2016 with Harzand, and the Aga Khan's last British Classic winner Ezeliya in 2024.
© 2025 AFP
