1935

THE preliminary announcement in this week’s Racing Calendar that this year’s Derby winner, HH Aga Khan’s Bahram, will be retired at the end of the season came as a great surprise. It will be very welcome news to breeders as, now that the great Blandford is dead, there is keen competition for the stud services of his descendants, the best of whom will now be Bahram and Windsor Lad in England, and Brantome on the continent.

Bahram will stand at the Egerton Stud, Newmarket next year. He will be limited in his first season to 16 mares, including his owner’s. Bahram is unbeaten. He has won seven races. In addition to the Derby, his successes include the 2000 Guineas, the Middle Park Stakes and the Gimcrack Stakes. His engagements for the remainder of the season include the St Leger, the St James’s Palace Stakes at Ascot, and the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown.

The decision to retire him to stud at the end of the season indicates that he will not be nominated for next year’s Ascot Gold Cup, which is usually regarded as the race that sets the seal upon a horse’s fame.