BREEDING FORUM

Posted: **Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:21 am**

Princess Zahra Aga Khan, whose family has been breeding horses for 250 years, has called on her fellow breeders to show some patience to help ensure the long-term viability of the thoroughbred breed, reports bloodstock.racingpost.com. The eldest child of Aga Khan IV argues that breeders should adopt a long-term view, rather than focusing on short term financial gain and dependence on new, unproven stallions. "How can we ensure the future of the breed if every year hundreds of mares are mated to first-season sires that are completely unproven and statistically likely to fail?" she asked. "How can we preserve the genetic diversity of the breed and avoid fashions that focus solely on speed or precocity of one sire-line, at the expense of those other sire-lines who may eventually produce the great champions of the future?" She continued: "How can we maintain and improve the genetic capital of the thoroughbred and expand the gene pool, rather than reducing it for short-term, profit-driven purposes?" Speaking on Monday night at the opening ceremony for the Asian Racing Conference in Mumbai, Princess Zahra invoked the name of one of the most influential broodmares of the 20th Century, Mumtaz Mahal, when making her point. One of the Aga Khan's foundation mares, Mumtaz Mahal's influence on the thoroughbred breed has been tremendous with some of her most notable descendants including Mahmoud, Nasrullah, Royal Charger, Abernant, Petite Etoile, and Shergar. "Her blood still runs in the veins of our families today," she said. "It took 37 years to revive that branch of Mumtaz Mahal's line. But when it was revived, it gave us Zarkava, probably the best filly ever bred under my father's ownership."