Darara (11 May 1983 – June 2012) was an Irish-bred, French-trained

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic ...

and

broodmare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than f ...

. Her racing career was restricted to six races between June and November 1983 and included three wins including the

Prix Vermeille The Prix Vermeille is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), a ...

and

Prix de Psyché The Prix de Psyché is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it is scheduled to take place ea ...

. She went on to finish sixth behind

Dancing Brave Dancing Brave (11 May 1983 – 2 August 1999) was an American-bred, British-trained thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from the autumn of 1985 until October 1986, he ran ten times and won eight races. Dancing Brave was the ou ...

in France's most important race, the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racec ...

and was one of the highest-rated fillies of her generation in Europe. She was then retired to stud and became a highly successful producer of winners.

Background

Darara was a small, lightly built bay mare with a faint white

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...

and a white

sock A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. In the late ...

on her left hind leg bred in Ireland by her owner

Aga Khan IV Shāh Karim al-Husayni (born 13 December 1936), known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Ismaili followers and elsewhere as Aga Khan IV, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailis, a denomination within Shia Islam. He h ...

. Her sire Top Ville was an Irish-bred, French-trained horse which won the

Prix du Jockey Club The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly ov ...

in 1979. At stud he also sired

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label=Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is the ...

, winner of the

St Leger Stakes The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster ove ...

, Pistolet Bleu (

Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud The Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Saint-Cloud over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it i ...

), Saint Estephe (

Coronation Cup The Coronation Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards ...

) and

Shardari Shardari (1 May 1982 – ca. 1999) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was unraced as a two-year-old before winning four of his six races as a three-year-old in 1985 including the Cumberland Lodge Stakes ...

. Her dam Delsy also produced

Darshaan Darshaan (18 April 1981 – 21 May 2001) was a British-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and a Champion sire and broodmare sire. Background Darshaan was a brown horse bred by his owner Aga Khan IV. He was sired by the British stall ...

, who won the 1984

and went on to become a leading sire. The filly was sent into training with

Alain de Royer-Dupré Alain de Royer-Dupré (born 24 September 1944http://www.breederscup.com/bio.aspx?id=2334 Breeders' Cup trainer profile) is a leading French thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Early life He grew up at the Haras de Saint Lô, a national stud farm in N ...

at Chantilly and usually raced in a sheepskin noseband.

Racing career

Darara's small size and delicate constitution made her difficult to train and she did not appear on a racecourse until June 1986, when she won the Prix Albaraelle, a

maiden race In horse racing a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the s ...

over 2000

metres The metre ( British spelling) or meter ( American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pr ...

Saint-Cloud Racecourse Hippodrome de Saint-Cloud is a grass race course for Thoroughbred flat horse racing opened in 1901 at 1 rue du Camp Canadien in Saint-Cloud near Paris, France. During World War 1, the race course site housed the No. 4 Canadian Stationary Hospit ...

. She then finished second in a Listed race at

Evry Racecourse EVRY A/S was a Norwegian information technology company that supplies services relating to computing, including operation, outsourcing, and online banking. The company is headquartered in Oslo. It was established through a merger between EDB Bu ...

before being moved up in class to contest the

Group Three AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

Deauville Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film F ...

in August. Ridden by

Yves Saint-Martin Yves Saint-Martin (born 8 September 1941 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, France) is a retired champion jockey in French Thoroughbred horse racing. He is widely considered one of the greatest riders in French racing history. Saint-Martin won his firs ...

, she won by one and a half

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the In ...

from the British-trained Cocotte. In September, Darara was moved up to Group One class for the Prix Vermeille over 2400 metres at

Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (french: Hippodrome de Longchamp) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for its variety of interlaced ...

. The

Prix de Diane The Prix de Diane, sometimes referred to as the French Oaks, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Chantilly over a distance of 2,100 met ...

winner Lacovia was made the odds-on favourite, with Darara third in the betting on 3.8/1. Saint-Martin sent the filly into the lead in the straight and she accelerated clear of her seven opponents to win easily by five lengths from Reloy. Following his filly's success, the Aga Khan opted to pay a 250,000 supplementary fee to enter the filly in the

. The Aga Khan's four-horse entry for the race on 5 October, comprising Darara,

Shahrastani Shahrastani (1983–2011) was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won four of his seven races between September 1985 and October 1986. He is best known for his performances in the summer of 1986 when he defeated Danc ...

and the pacemaker Dihistan, started at combined odds of 9/2 in an exceptionally strong field which included

Bering Bering may refer to: * Vitus Bering (1681–1741), Danish-born navigator in the service of the Russian Navy * Maritime features of Alaska/Siberia region: ** Bering Sea, body of water in the North Pacific Ocean ** Bering Strait, sea strait between ...

Acatenango Acatenango is a stratovolcano in Guatemala, close to the city of Antigua. The volcano has two peaks, ''Pico Mayor'' (Highest Peak) and ''Yepocapa'' (3,880 m) which is also known as Tres Hermanas (Three Sisters). Acatenango is joined with Volc� ...

and

Triptych A triptych ( ; from the Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divide ...

. Darara was among the leaders in the straight, but weakened in the closing stages to finish sixth of the fifteen runners, four lengths behind the winner Dancing Brave. On her final appearance, Darara was sent to California to contest the

Breeders' Cup Turf The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's curre ...

Santa Anita Park Santa Anita Park is a Thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent horse racing events in the United States during early fall, winter and in spring. The track is home to numerous prestigious races ...

on 1 November. She was never is serious contention and finished eighth of the nine runners behind

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

Assessment

In 1986, the independent Timeform organisation awarded Darara a rating of 129, placing her alongside the one-mile specialist

Sonic Lady Sonic Lady (15 February 1983 – February 1996) was an American-bred, British-trained racehorse and broodmare. A temperamental filly who was often difficult to ride, she was a specialist miler who won seven Group races. After winning her only ...

as the best three-year-old filly in Europe. In the International Classification rated her the best three-year-old filly over 11 furlongs plus with a rating of 126.

Stud record

Darara was retired from racing to become a broodmare at her owners stud. In 1994 Darara was offered for sale and bought for 470,000 Irish guineas on behalf of Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber and was moved to the Watership Down Stud in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

. Darara failed to produce a foal for several years after moving to Berkshire but recovered her fertility after a pioneering procedure involving the "flushing" of her

fallopian tubes The fallopian tubes, also known as uterine tubes, oviducts or salpinges (singular salpinx), are paired tubes in the human female that stretch from the uterus to the ovaries. The fallopian tubes are part of the female reproductive system. In ...

. She was a highly successful broodmare, producing four winners of Group One flat races and one Grade I winning steeplechaser. Her offspring included: *Dariyoun a bay colt, foaled in 1988, sired by

, won four races including the Gran Premio de Madrid *Dardjini bay colt 1990, by

Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...

won six races including the

Denny Gold Medal Chase Denny or Dennie may refer to: People *Denny (given name), a list of people named Denny or Dennie * Denny (surname), a list of people surnamed Denny or Dennie * Denny (hybrid hominin) Places * Denny, California, a ghost town *Denny, Falkirk, a tow ...

*Darazari, bay colt 1993 by

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-se ...

won two races in Europe including the

Prix Maurice de Nieuil The Prix Maurice de Nieuil is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,800 metres (about 1¾ miles), and it is scheduled t ...

before being exported to Australia where he won the

Ranvet Stakes The Ranvet Stakes is an Australian Turf Club Group 1 Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds and older over a distance of 2,000 metres, held at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney, Australia in March. Total prize money is A$ ...

. *Kilimanjaro, bay colt 1995 by

Shirley Heights Shirley Heights (1 March 1975 – 17 March 1997) was a British Thoroughbred race horse and winner of the Derby in 1978. The colt had previously won the Royal Lodge Stakes and the Dante Stakes, and he went on to win the Irish Derby before ...

won one race. *Rhagaas, bay colt 1996 by Sadler's Wells, won one race *

River Dancer A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

, bay colt 1999 by Sadler's Wells, won three races including the

Prix La Force The Prix La Force is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbreds. It is run over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles) at Longchamp in April. History ...

in France and the

Queen Elizabeth II Cup The Queen Elizabeth II Cup is a Group One Thoroughbred horse race at Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1975 by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, it is run annually in April at a distance of 2,000 metres (ten ...

in Hong Kong. *

Dar Re Mi Dar Re Mi (foaled 2005 in Great Britain) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career lasting from 2007 to 2010 she won six times, including three at Group One level. Since retiring from racing she has become a very successful broodma ...

, bay filly 2005 by Singspiel, won six races including the

Prix Minerve The Prix Minerve is a Group 3 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Deauville over a distance of 2,500 metres (about 1 mile and 4½ furlongs), and it is scheduled ...

, Pretty Polly Stakes,

Yorkshire Oaks The Yorkshire Oaks is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies and mares aged three years or older. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile 3 ...

Sheema Classic The Dubai Sheema Classic is a Group 1 flat horse race in the United Arab Emirates open to thoroughbreds which are four-years-old or above. It is run over a distance of 2,400 metres (approximately miles; 2410 metres since 2010) on the turf track at ...

Rewilding Rewilding may refer to: *Rewilding (conservation biology), the return of habitats to a natural state ** Rewilding Europe, a programme to do so in Europe *** Pleistocene rewilding, a form of species reintroduction ** Rewilding Institute, an organi ...

, bay colt 2007 by

Tiger Hill The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

, won five races including the

Cocked Hat Stakes The Cocked Hat Stakes is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at Goodwood over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 44 yards (2,253 metr ...

Great Voltigeur Stakes The Great Voltigeur Stakes is a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old colts and geldings. It is run at York over a distance of 1 mile 3 furlongs and 1 ...

, Sheema Classic,

Prince of Wales's Stakes The Prince of Wales's Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile 1 furlong and 212 yards (2,004 me ...

Darara was retired from breeding after foaling Rewilding in 2007 and died in June 2012 at the age of twenty-nine.

Pedigree

References

External links

Profile of Darara
{{in lang, fr from ''France Sire'' 1983 racehorse births 2012 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Ireland Racehorses trained in France Thoroughbred family 13-c