The Aga Khan team believe the impeccably-bred Daryzan was undone by his inexperience in the Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly.
A half-brother to the owners’ Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-winning stablemate Daryz, the Zarak colt was a hugely impressive winner on his Saint-Cloud debut and was immediately stepped up to the highest level for the French Derby.
While he was unable to land a telling blow in a race dominated by the Aidan O’Brien-trained trio of Constitution River, Hawk Mountain and Montreal, Daryzan made late headway to be beaten just three lengths into seventh place.
The Aga Khan Stud colours were also carried by the previously unbeaten Dolmalan, who a short head and one place ahead of Daryzan in sixth.
“I think our two horses ran their race, no excuses really and they didn’t run too badly,” said Nemone Routh, manager for the Aga Khan Studs in France.
“For Daryzan it was only his second start and he rode like a very green and inexperienced horse. He got through the preliminaries well, but they made it a really strong pace and he was too green to really play a part in the race, but we were quite pleased with the way he finished.
“Dolmalan ran well too and even though it was his fourth run, he’d never been in a race like that before where they’ve gone so fast from the start. They (Ballydoyle) clearly employed the right tactics, I think Constitution River is a very good horse and they found out the French horses who are not as hardened and haven’t really run in races like that before.
“They’re progressive types and they’ve both come out of it fine. I think that race just slightly found them out on the day, but that’s not to say they’re not going to be a nice horses, I think it was just a lack of experience really.”
