Haya Zark springs a surprise at Longchamp to give Zarak a second Group 1 winner

Zarak supplied the first Group 1 winner of the European Flat season but the identity of the stallion's latest success story was unexpected as Haya Zark sprang a 16-1 surprise in the Prix Ganay at Longchamp.

The five-year-old, trained by Adrien Fouassier for owner-breeder Odette Fau, is from the first crop of the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner, but it was his second-crop son Zarakem who was thought to be the more likely of the two to win the Ganay. 

Zarakem won the Group 2 Prix d'Harcourt, the traditional warm-up for the Ganay, earlier this month and Jerome Reynier's four-year-old disputed favouritism with Joseph O'Brien's Group 1 National Stakes winner Al Riffa but the finish came down to a battle between Haya Zark and the Aga Khan's Zarir. The four-year-old Frankel gelding is out of Zarshanna, a Sea The Stars half-sister to champion Zarkava, dam of Zarak.

Haya Zark is a triple Group 3 winner, making a successful seasonal debut at that level in the Prix Exbury at Saint-Cloud last month and is the second foal out of Haya City, who was also bred and raced by Odette Fau.

The daughter of Elusive City ran three times and finished unplaced in each start, but is a half-sister to the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud third and Prix de Diane fourth Haya Landa. By Lando she was another homebred for Odette Fau, and was placed six times in Group company before selling for €400,000 to Northern Farm at the 2013 Arqana December Sale.

Their Soldier Of Fortune half-sister, Haya Of Fortune, was third in the Listed Criterium de l'Ouest again raced by her breeder. They are out of Haya Samma, an unraced Pivotal half-sister to Craven Stakes third Gin Jockey by Soviet Star.

Haya Zark is the second winner in the Ganay from his family as his third dam, Singing Lark, is a Pampabird full-sister to Subotica, who won the 1992 race, the same year in which he won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Bred by Paul de Moussac, Subotica also won the 1991 Grand Prix de Paris and was runner-up to Suave Dancer in the Prix du Jockey Club that year.

Haya City has a four-year-old full-sister to Sunday's Group 1 hero named Zarkhaya and a yearling colt by Anodin.

Zarak won the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and is a son of Dubawi and the outstanding Zarkava whose unbeaten seven-race career encompassed five Group 1 triumphs including the Arc, Prix de Diane, Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix Marcel Boussac.

In addition to Zarak, she is the dam of Listed winner Zarkamiya, by Frankel, and Siyouni filly Zaykava, who also earned a Listed success. Zarkava has a three-year-old full-brother to Zaykava named Zarouk in training with Francis-Henri Graffard and foaled a full-sister to the pair this year.

Zarak retired to the Aga Khan's Haras du Bonneval in Normandy for the 2018 season at a fee of €12,000 and has now sired two individual Group 1 winners from that crop. His first was last season's Grosser Preis von Baden hero Zagrey who had previously been third in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

He is now the sire of 15 individual Group winners from his first three crops and the exploits of that first crop earned him a fee increase to €25,000 in 2022. The further success his offspring garnered saw his fee rise to €60,000 in 2023 and it remained at that level this year.

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