racehorse

Fifty Years of Equestrian Champions from the Stables of His Highness the Aga Khan

A new lavishly illustrated volume by Philip Jodidio from Prestel highlights fifty years of the prestigious horse racing and breeding enterprises of His Highness the Aga Khan, the immensely wealthy Muslim spiritual leader. The urbane Aga Khan, a philanthropist, Harvard graduate and stepson of Hollywood bombshell Rita Hayworth, built his world class thoroughbred empire on a legacy handed down through generations and now oversees one of the largest and most successful racing and breeding operations in Europe. The luxe book traces the history of the Aga Khan Studs including many famous champions through remarkable photographs, engravings and paintings taken from the Aga Khan's archives. Also included is a lengthy interview with His Highness and informative essays on what makes a great racehorse. Check out the gallery for a preview.

Gallery: The Horses of the Aga Khan

A group of mares and foals bred at St Crespin, France

Dalakhani, winner of four Group I races, including the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Zarkava, unbeaten winner of five Group I races, descends from Mumtaz Mahal, purchased in 1921 by the Aga Khan III

His Highness the Aga Khan inspecting yearlings at St Crespin in Normandy

A group of mares and foals grazing in a field in Ireland

Tags: Aga Khan, books, coffee table books, equestrian, Harvard, horse racing, horseracing, horses, Islam, Muslim, racehorse, racehorses, Rita Hayworth, royalty, sports, stables, the+aga+khan, theagakhan, thoroughbreds, wealth

$1,000 Mint Juleps Return to the Kentucky Derby

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Events

Last year Woodford Reserve gave 50 traditional mint juleps a $1000 upgrade at the Kentucky Derby by using exotic ingredients and serving them in gold cups with silver straws. With the drinks providing such a unique keepsake and proceeds benefiting retired horses and jockeys through Thoroughbred Charities of America, the $1000 juleps were huge a success. So this year they'll be coming around again -- only with even more flair than before.

This year there will be a julep cup representing each of the Derby winners all the way from the first, Aristides, to the most recent, Barbaro. Those two, plus the 11 triple crown winners in between, will be auctioned off online between April 17th and May 1st -- and of course somewhat of a bidding war is expected over Barbaro's cup (it will be interesting to see who wins out on that one). Altogether this year there will be a grand total of 133 special edition mint juleps made, with only 10 being held back for sale at the actual race. In addition to those 10, and the 13 up for online auction, 109 are available to purchase online for $1000 each (first come first buy), and one will be reserved and sent to this year's Derby winner, free of charge.

As before, the juleps will leave nothing wanting in the way of exotic ingredients from around the world, featuring mint from Ireland, organic sugar from Australia, ice from the Bavarian Alps, and of course bourbon from Woodford Reserve.

Source

Tags: barbaro, bourbon, derby, equine, horse, horses, julep, juleps, kentucky, mint, race, racehorse, racing, woodford reserve, WoodfordReserve