DUBLIN - Epsom and Irish Derby champion Harzand will not race next year after being retired to stand as a stallion at owner the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud in Ireland it was announced on Monday.
Harzand ridden by Pat Smullen wins the Derby in Surrey, southern England, on June 4, 2016
Harzand -- whose last start was a disappointing ninth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe earlier this month -- delivered top Irish trainer Dermot Weld his first ever win in the Epsom Derby in June.
Ridden by Pat Smullen it was a remarkable performance as he had been a doubtful starter up to an hour before the race having spread a plate (lost his shoe) on the flight over from Ireland.
However, he made light of the pre-race concerns to beat the favourite US Army Ranger by 1 1/2 lengths and give the Aga Khan a fifth win equalling his grandfather's tally.
"He's been a wonderful horse to train. I've enjoyed training him. He's won two Derbies for us. He's a beautifully-made colt, very sound," Weld told At The Races.
"It's been a team effort. It hasn't been the easiest -- when he spread the plate before Epsom it was nerve-racking -- but it was his guts and courage that won the day."
The Aga Khan bought back Gilltown Stud in 1992 -- having sold it in 1974 -- following the kidnapping of another of his Epsom Derby winners Shergar, who was taken in 1983 from Ballymany Stud, which he has since sold.