Daryz produced a strong finish to run down Minnie Hauk in the 2025 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday.
Carrying the colours of the late Aga Khan, one of racing's greatest owner-breeders, Daryz delivered a poignant success to hand both trainer Francis-Henri Graffard and jockey Mickael Barzalona their first triumph in Europe's premier middle-distance prize.
Stepping up to a mile and a half for the very first time, victory didn't always look likely for the four-year-old of Sea The Stars as Minnie Hauk, who adopted an ideal prominent position on the rail from her draw in stall one, struck for home with what looked like proving a race-winning move passing the furlong and a half marker.
However, Daryz and Barzalona quickly emerged from the pack to set off in hot pursuit. Minnie Hauk still held a couple of length advantage going into the final furlong, but all the while Daryz was beginning to erode the deficit and with less than 50m to go, he drew level to mount a serious challenge.
Soumillon attempted to galvanise his filly to respond late on, and too her credit, she battled away tenaciously to ensure she wasn't going to go down without a fight. But it wasn't enough to wrestle back the advantage and with his head bowed low, Daryz nosed to the front just strides before the winning line to provide connections with an emotional success.
The winning margin was officially a head, with Minnie Hauk five and a half lengths clear of the third-place horse Sosie, who went one spot better than he did twelve months ago. Marco Botti's Giavellotto emerged with bundles of credit back in fourth.
"It's a great honour. We have such a great history with the race, and I'm delighted that it's came true for me today," said Barzalona.
"I was immediately out of the stalls. My horse found it's rhythm which is important in a race like this. So, I had absolutely no issues. I could see that Minnie Hauk was making a lot of effort in front of me, but he obviously could finish easily.
"I saw that Minnie Hauk made quite a significant acceleration, but he immediately reacted and got behind her. I knew that he had a lot to give. I was pretty confident that I would get to the post first."
A half-brother to the Prix Gany hero Dariyan, Daryz was leading a three-pronged attack for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard with both Gezora (13th) and Quisisana (9th) also featuring.
"This race is very special in terms of emotions," explained Graffard. "As a racing fan, I was dreaming of a race like that with these colours. It's very special today in terms of emotion to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the Aga Khan family."
Having landed his first four outings in fine style, Daryz stepped up to Group 1 company for the Juddmonte International at York in August, but he failed to land a blow, ultimately finishing a well-beaten sixth behind Ombudsman. Returned to his homeland, he produced a performance full of promise when running on strongly to finish a neck behind the Japanese-trained Croix Du Nord in the Prix du Prince d'Orange, leaving connections happy to roll the dice in Paris' showpiece.
Graffard added: "He was so tough. When I was planning to run at York, I said to Princess Zahra 'we are not going to win, but we need to toughen him up for the autumn' and I think the defeat at York helped us to win today because my horse was, for the first time, very professional and mature.
"It's a great experience and today was exactly what we planned to do. My horse was very tough to catch up with the filly.
"To win the Arc today in these colours is just crazy. In the past, it was just a dream, but now it's happening to me."
