One of the best breeding operations on the international turf is that of the Aga Khan. With over 250 broodmares boarded chiefly at the Ballyfair, Sallymount and Sheshoon Studs in Ireland and the Haras d'Ouilly, Haras de Saint-Crespin and Haras du Val Henry in France, and five stallions located at Gilltown Stud and the Haras de Bonneval, the Aga Khan Studs are major players any way you look at it.

A feature of their breeding policy, one which many Indian stud farms ought to emulate, is that about one-third of the mares are sent to "outside" stallions each year so that the mares are mated with stallions that are best suited on pedigree, conformation and temperament considerations. And so, in 2006, the Darshaan mare Sanariya found her way to the court of Refuse To Bend at Kildangan Stud – the result was a bay filly, foaled in France, which was sent to trainer Alain Royer-Dupre at Chantilly.

After a maiden win and another in the Gr.1 Prix Saint-Alary, Sarafina started as the best-backed in the Gr.1 Prix de Diane (French Oaks) over 2100 m. on Sunday. Under a perfect ride by Christophe Lemaire, familiar to Indian racegoers as the pilot for The Pelican in the Invitation Cup of 2002, the progressive bay prevailed from her stablemate Rosanara (by Sinndar). It was a sixth victory in the race for the owner-breeder and his trainer, surely a noteworthy feat.

Interestingly, Refuse To Bend completed a long range double for the day when Grace O'Malley, bred on the same cross (being out of a Darshaan mare in Lionne), made virtually all in the 1-1/2 miles Kerry Group Noblesse Stakes (Gr.3) at Cork in Ireland. Dermot Weld's ward, ridden as usual by Pat Smullen, nosed out a runner in the Aga Khan silks named Karasiyra and completed a rare double, she having won the same race in 2009.

Let’s look at what’s happening at North America.

Both the top performers in North America last year made public appearances this weekend. On Saturday, US Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra faced just 4 rivals in the Fleur de Lis Handicap (Gr.2) at Churchill Downs. Content to lope along behind toiling rivals, the daughter of Medaglia D'Oro-Lotta Kim (by Roar) joined issue rounding the turn and in a trice "left them for dead".

She was able to pull over 10 lengths clear in just the short stretch under a hand ride by Calvin Borel. The quintessential Rachel Alexandra – noticeably absent in her last two starts – is now back, much to the delight of railbirds. Of course, beating Distinctive Dixie and Jessica Is Back may not amount to much but she was conceding 8 lbs. to both and what's more seemed to enjoy her race.

The next afternoon, in the Vanity Handicap (Gr.1) at Hollywood Park, Zenyatta (Street Cry-Vertigineux, by Kris S.) extended her unbeaten skein to 17, a modern day record for those competing at the highest level, beating the sequence of 16 set by the likes of Cigar, Citation and our very own Squanderer. Pepper's Pride had won 19 in a row from 2005-2008, but raced exclusively in restricted state-bred New Mexico events; all have a long way to go to equal, leave alone surpass, the Hungarian crack, Kincsem (foaled in 1874), who won 54 from 54 all over Europe in the nineteenth century.

Mike Smith kept the 1-to-5 Zenyatta way back in the six-runner field, then made his patented move around the turn while six wide. For a long while British import St. Trinians (by Piccolo) looked like pulling off a sensational upset but the favourite got the job done in a spine-tingling finish. The rider will need to be closer to the leader if he expects to keep her record intact in her next assignment. For the record, the John Shireffs-trainee has earned $6,074,580, not a bad return for a $60,000 investment!

A new star from amongst the year-older brigade gained the first of what could be several Grade 1 wins. This was Blame (Arch-Liable, by Seeking The Gold-Bound, by Nijinsky-Special), a runner with a mouth-watering pedigree. Having been brought along quietly and steadily without much fanfare by his patient trainer, Albert Stall, the Claiborne-bred colt entered the Stephen Foster Handicap (Gr.1) at Churchill Downs as the winner of 6 of his 9 previous races. Here, with Garret Gomez astride, he took aim at Battle Plan and ran down the Overbrook standard-bearer with a minimum of fuss. Traditional Gr.1 events such as the Whitney Handicap, the Woodward Stakes and the Jockey Club Gold Cup are next on his agenda. All being well, he will return to Churchill Downs for a crack at the Breeders' Cup Classic (Gr.1) in November.

This job done, Gomez jetted off to Toronto on Sunday, where his mere presence astride Embur's Song saw her sent out as a 2-to-5 shot in the Budweiser Woodbine Oaks. The pair nearly pulled it off, leading till midway up the longish Woodbine stretch before 24 to 1 Moment Of Majesty came at her. Surprisingly, it was not the challenger but 12 to 1 Roan Inish (Elusive Quality-Inish Glora, by Regal Classic), who was able to sneak through between the battling duo to score by a head. Robert Costigan's home-bred is trained by his daughter, Carolyn, and now heads for the Queens Plate on July 4th, where H.M. Queen Elizabeth II is expected to be present.

As expected, the 2011 Breeders' Cup will be held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Other tracks like New York's Belmont Park had equal or better claims but it seems a pari-mutuel tax break, hidden in fine print that no one had noticed, meant that Churchill Downs would have lost over $1,000,000 in 2010 had they not hosted the 2011 event! Once this became evident, there was really no other choice…

Now, a look at Australia.

Australia's premier stallion, Redoute's Choice, missed a Gr.1 double by a mere short head on Saturday. First his daughter Dariana (out of Beldarian, by Last Tycoon), trained by the legendary Bart Cummings, fairly trounced a big field in the Channel Seven Queensland Derby (2,400 m.) at Eagle Farm in Brisbane, prevailing by over 4 lengths. Then in the very next race, another daughter Melito (out of Cloister, by Marauding) knuckled under in a driving finish to the 1,400 m. AAMI Stradbroke Handicap, just failing to beat the 6-year-old gelding Black Piranha (Clang-Jazztrack, by Distinctly North).