Popular figure in Ireland where he was also a successful amateur rider

THE news of the tragic death of Aly Khan in a motor accident in Paris on Thursday night will be received with sincere regret in Ireland, where he was extremely popular in racing and breeding circles.

There is, perhaps, little need to stress at the moment the enormous influence that he and his father, the late Aga Khan, have had on Ireland’s reputation for producing the best racehorses in the world at the six stud farms they owned in Ireland

In 1945 he became a full co-proprietor with his father when he bought a half share in all the broodmares, yearlings and foals previously owned by the Aga Khan. Long before that he had taken a very active interest in his father’s Irish stud farms and had shown that he possessed the same uncanny flair for the selection and mating of sires and mares which had enabled the Aga Khan to build up the greatest breeding empire in the world, mainly based in Ireland.

Less than two hours before his death he spoke on the telephone to Major C.C. Hall, who managed his six Irish stud farms and looked after his racing interests here. He made no reference to coming to Ireland for the Guineas meeting at the Curragh next week, but spoke about his filly, Faiza, who is entered in the Irish 1000 Guineas.

He visited Ireland about for times a year and had planned to come here in the relatively near future. His last visit was as recently as January, when he gave a party for his employees to celebrate his great successes last year.

The news of his sudden death must have come as a great shock to Major Hall and all of his 110 employees who were all devoted to him and to whom he credited a considerable part in making him the leading owner on the flat in Britain and France last year. His winnings in Britain were £100,668, while in France he won more than 140,000,000 francs. His total prize money last season was estimated at more than £235,000.

The 1959 flat race season has been described as “the Aly Khan’s year”. His winnings in England included three classic races. When his enormous winnings in Europe last year were mentioned to him during his visit here in January, Aly Khan pointed out that he would need to win £100,000 in prizemoney every year to cover the costs of his racing establishments in Ireland and France, which are the biggest in the world.

The Aly Khan was a well-known amateur jockey. He was a familiar figure at Irish race meetings, both as an owner and, some years ago, as a rider. Race meetings at which he rode winners included the Phoenix Park, Kilbeggan, Mullingar and Roscommon.

The Aly Khan served with the British forces during the war and he rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. After the surrender in Germany he went with a jeep and a horse-trailer to the German National Stud to reclaim, it is said at pistol-point, some of his father’s best horses which the Wehrmacht had taken from the Aga Khan’s French estates.

Prince Aly Khan was born in June, 1911. He is father to the present Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of millions of Ismaili Muslims in the East and in Africa.

1935

Remarkable classic result for Crotanstown

THE Crotanstown training stable carried out a remarkable feat on Wednesday when it produced the three placed horses in the Irish 2000 Guineas, and the J.T Rogers achievement never has been rivalled.

No doubt it has happened before that the three placed horses in a race, even an important one, have hailed from the same stable, but not so in classic events, which are few in a season. So far as our memory and research go, nothing like it has ever happened in Ireland previously.

How unexpected it was on Wednesday the starting price of the winner, Sir Victor Sassoon’s Museum, goes to show. On an Irish racecourse 100/1 represents a chance best summed up in the phrase, ‘not an earthly’. As for the second horse, Mr Rogers’ Parisian, this colt was on the same mark in the market, but the third horse, Mr William Barnett’s Chirgwin, was third favourite at 8/1, and a well-fancied candidate.

Solarium, who was favourite at 6/4 on, made no showing whatsoever. When the tapes rose he jumped into another horse, became unbalanced, and when he got going properly was baulked. In other words, he had no luck.

It is to be hoped that the 1000 Guineas 10 days hence will produce a more popular result. The stony faces of the crowd on Wednesday reflected the feelings of the mass of people, hardly one having given the first and second horses the ghost of a chance.

The tote paid out £16 5s over the winner, which represents odds of almost 192/1.

1980

Irish classic most valuable over a mile in Europe

THANKS to sponsorship, the Airlie/Coolmore Irish 2000 Guineas, with a prize fund of over £86,000 to the winner, is now the most valuable mile classic in Europe. At the same time, it is most disturbing to learn from Paris-based colleague Desmond Stoneham that the marketing of the race around Chantilly left a lot to be desired.

He said: “I think it is a pity that more publicity hasn’t been done for the sponsored race. Some French trainers were astonished to find the winner was to receive around £86,000, and very few were conscious of the fact that a travelling allowance (£500) existed. Also, not a word about the Irish classic has appeared in the racing columns of the French newspapers”.

As well as getting the combined sponsorship, the kitty was swelled by the clever introduction of the late entry system last December. The original entry was only £40 and this netted £23,000, but a further £39,000 was forthcoming in December when owners had to pay £800 a horse.

1980

Admission to Curragh on non-classic Saturdays to be £2.50

THE reserved enclosure at the Curragh has been abolished for all meetings, except classic days, when the sheer size of the crowd means the reserved enclosure has to be retained.

The racecourse manager, Patrick Connolly, said: “We feel that maintaining a reserved enclosure is something of an anachronism in this day and age and, accordingly, instead of charging £2 for the grandstand and £3 for the reserved enclosure, we will charge £2.50 on all Saturday gates from now on. We have not been operating the reserved enclosure for midweek days for some time now, and for these days the price of admission will remain at £2. Admission fees on classic days will remain unchanged.”