Francis-Henri Graffard: “Daryz is in very good physical condition”
WEEK-END OF
QATAR PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE
Francis-Henri Graffard: “Daryz is in very good physical condition”
Key statements from the press conference
Francis-Henri Graffard, the reigning Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-winning trainer, will be doubly represented in Sunday’s Group 1. The trainer will be able to rely on two Aga Khan Studs representatives: Daryz, last year’s winner and the expected favourite for the 2026 edition, as well as the three-year-old Varandir. The Aga Khan silks have enjoyed particular success in the race, with eight Arc victories already to their name – a record! Based in Chantilly, Francis-Henri Graffard, who currently trains the largest string in France with 228 horses, has one Arc victory to his name – last year’s success.
Now aged four, Daryz has confirmed his standing since his triumph in the latest edition of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. He notably won the Prix Ganay World Pool By PMU (Group 1), followed by the Prix d’Ispahan (Group 1), before making a winning return in the Qatar Prix Foy (Group 2). The only blemish on his record this season was his performance in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (Group 1) at Ascot, where he finished third.
Varandir, meanwhile, continues to progress. The limits of the three-year-old remain difficult to assess, and his latest performance was particularly impressive. At the beginning of September, he won the Qatar Prix Niel (Group 2), one of the main trials for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Francis Graffard was joined at Tuesday morning’s press conference by Nemone Routh, Racing Manager of the Aga Khan Studs, owners of Daryz and Varandir.
As organiser of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, France Galop invited journalists to a press conference with Francis-Henri Graffard and Nemone Routh.
Here are their main comments:
Two runners in the 2026 Arc after all…
[Francis-Henri Graffard]
I took Sunly out of the race this morning, so I will only have Daryz and Varandir in the Arc this year.
On the decision to keep Daryz in training at four
[Nemone Routh]
We made the decision and it was quite an easy one because everyone agreed that we should keep him in training. Last year, he was a horse who progressed throughout the season. And we really felt that he reached maturity on Arc day. We thought: we have a completely fresh horse, a big horse who was born quite late in the year. That means he had finally reached the level we expected of him. So why send him to stud straight away? Personally, I think it was a good decision. Because now everyone has seen that you cannot pigeonhole him as a 2,400-metre horse on soft ground, because he has also won Group 1 races over 1,800 metres by several lengths on fast ground. I think we have already spoken enough about the disappointment at Ascot. But we know why he did not run his race that day. He was not well that day, while still managing to finish third. Everyone has seen that he is a horse with a tremendous turn of foot and that he is versatile. He adapts to every distance. For us, he is a champion. But obviously, he still has to perform well on Sunday too.
What an Arc double would mean
[Nemone Routh]
At the Aga Khan Studs, we have never had a horse attempt the double. All the horses who ran in and won the Arc for us were not kept in training the following year. So this is a new challenge for us. The fact that we are here today, just a few days before the race, with a horse who has not disappointed us this year, who is here and will be competitive, is already an achievement thanks to Francis and the whole team. This double is an enormous challenge. We know it is very difficult. Curiously, not many colts or horses have done it. It has been 50 years since a male horse completed the double. The fillies and mares have found it easier in recent times, obviously. But we have confidence in him. And we are delighted to be here. We have confidence in him. He has all the qualities required to complete this double.
On Tuesday morning’s final piece of work, and his previous work
[Francis-Henri Graffard]
The work went well. There were four horses in the gallop. Daryz was in fourth position. He travelled nicely onto the bridle for his jockey and finished easily on the bridle. Afterwards, he was not blowing particularly hard. Mickaël [Barzalona] looked very pleased. The positive thing was that he found him very sharp – sharper than before the Prix Foy. The horse was in very good physical condition. It was exactly the kind of work I had hoped for before the Arc.
After the Prix Foy, there was the recovery phase following the race. But since then, we have not really taken things easy with him because, for the Arc, you really need to be at 100%. I would say that the final 15 days are stressful. Last week’s work and, above all, this morning’s work are crucial stages. Everything went well and the horse came back in good order. From now on, it will simply be a case of maintaining him until the race. And that is in the hands of his regular work rider. I hope I do not see anything I dislike over the next few days, but normally, from now on, we will simply focus on changing nothing in his routine and getting him to the races like this on Sunday. Of course, we do not want anything unexpected or unusual to happen around him. But we take care to make sure that does not happen.
Has Daryz changed this year?
He is a horse who has always had a lot of personality. He is quite dominant. He behaved very well before the Arc last year. But the challenge when you keep a four-year-old entire male in training is making sure that he does not become too dominant. You have to keep him focused on his work. I had to change his morning rider because Daryz had started to get the upper hand over his previous rider. Sometimes, partnerships stop working. We made that decision, and it was not an easy one. It allowed Daryz to concentrate again on his work. He has also become much stronger. He is a very imposing horse physically. He feels very well in himself, which makes it all the more important to keep him very focused on his training every day.
Winter is always a difficult period when you ease off with horses. Daryz was starting to become too difficult to manage in the mornings. I changed his rider and put Jean-Philippe Bresler on him. He has a great deal of experience and knew how to correct the horse, put him to work and make sure the horse respected him. Everything quickly returned to normal. I never doubted that we would be able to manage the horse, but we had to make a fairly decisive and difficult decision.
I would also like to thank Guillaume, his former rider, who was very cooperative and understood that, for the horse and for the team, it was important to make a change.
His new rider, Jean-Philippe Bresler, is very experienced. Last year, he won the Trophées du Personnel des Courses et de l’Élevage. He was due to retire on 1 October… but in the end he has postponed his retirement!
How important are the ground and the distance for Daryz?
[Francis-Henri Graffard]
Daryz needs a strong pace. The stronger the pace, the better he is, because he has an enormous ability to accelerate. I think that over 2,000 metres on good ground, he is devastating. For me, the reason he won the Arc last year on soft ground over 2,400 metres is simply because he is a very, very good horse. He did not win the Arc last year because of the ground. And I would actually be quite happy to see him on good ground, where he can produce that devastating acceleration.
Where does Daryz rank among the best horses Francis-Henri Graffard has trained?
[Francis-Henri Graffard]
Daryz impressed me, particularly in the Ispahan and the Ganay. He is not at all demonstrative in the mornings and tends to have a rather short, choppy action at home. But the amount of power he can produce when he accelerates really amazed me in the spring. Sunday will obviously be a test and it is a difficult race, but in terms of physique and acceleration, I think he is the best horse I have trained so far.
Which jockeys will ride the two horses?
[Francis-Henri Graffard]
Mickaël Barzalona will ride Daryz, and Clément Lecœuvre will ride Varandir.
Could Daryz race again after the Arc?
[Nemone Routh]
It is difficult to say. We have kept several options open if we want to run him again after the Arc. It is not certain that this will be his final race. But we need to see what happens on Sunday, and then we will decide whether he races again this year. We will put all the options on the table. But we have kept several possibilities open in case we want to see him race again this year. Obviously, that would be abroad because there is no other race for him in France after the Arc.
What about Varandir?
[Francis-Henri Graffard]
Varandir was quite immature, both mentally and physically. He is a horse who sweats quite quickly because I think he was a little soft mentally. We followed a fairly traditional programme with him. He ran in the same maiden as Daryz did last year at Longchamp and won very well. We progressed gradually. That led us to take our chance in the Grand Prix de Paris with a horse who was still quite immature. He ran very well. He finished fourth, very close up. But we saw a real change in him over the summer. The horse became more supple physically and mentally, and I think he is better now. He has really progressed. I went into the Prix Niel with greater confidence in the horse, knowing that he had really improved, and he confirmed that in the Niel, which he won very well. In conclusion, he is a three-year-old who has just won one of the trials for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and who is still improving. He fully deserves to take his chance and to be competitive. You mentioned that he was very immature, mentally and physically, at the beginning of the year.
A Daryz versus Varandir match?
[Nemone Routh]
Personally, I think Daryz is ahead of Varandir at the moment. He is the better horse. But Varandir is improving rapidly. We know that he has a weight advantage. A lot will depend on their draw and the trips they get in the race. We do not really have another race to run Varandir in. He is also by Zarak, one of our stallions. So it would seem a little strange not to let him run when he is by one of our own stallions. He is a very good-looking horse who ultimately has quite a similar profile to Daryz last year.
[Francis-Henri Graffard]
I completely agree. Also, this is the first time that the three-year-olds will meet the older horses over this distance. And we will be able to see whether this generation of three-year-olds is a strong generation or not. That is why the Arc is such a special race. Daryz is the better horse at the moment. But we felt that we should run Varandir.