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"The greatest gift a breeder could have." That was how the late HH Aga Khan IV described his unbeaten masterpiece Zarkava. How fitting then, that months after the retirement of the 20-year-old daughter of Zamindar and the sad passing of her owner-breeder, Zarkava's granddaughter Zarigana, herself out of the

Listed winner Zarkamiya (Frankel) and by the Aga Khan Studs' homebred French champion sire Siyouni, should pick up the baton. In giving her breeder a seventh victory in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, Zarigana continues this line of extraordinary success for the Aga Khan Studs, which stretches back almost to the beginning of HH Aga Khan III establishing a breeding operation. All breeders dream of the big time, no matter how great or small their means of making it there, but not even this one could have imagined the high-calibre longevity that his would have.

That has been thanks in no small part to the lengthy tenure of Prince Karim Aga Khan, who was elevated to the title of Aga Khan IV upon the death of his grandfather in 1957, with thoughts of breeding racehorses then far from his mind at the age of just 20. Three years later his father Prince Aly Khan was killed in a motor accident and the family's thoroughbred breeding empire became his.

The Aga Khan's study of bloodlines and blending of his own stock with those purchased from other significant owner-breeders while surrounding himself with trusted advisors ensured the continuation of the already deep-rooted foundations in the sport laid by his grandfather. That chain looks in no danger of being broken thanks to the passionate commitment shown over recent decades by his daughter, Princess Zahra Aga Khan, herself the owner-breeder of Mandanaba (Ghaiyyath), who was third home in the Pouliches.

Zarigana became the 100th Group/Grade 1 winner for her late owner-breeder, and her family still has much to give the operation. Zarkava's most celebrated offspring is her Group 1-winning son Zarak, now one of the most sought-after stallions in Europe, and he was represented on Sunday by his son Flatten The Curve, winner of Germany's G2 Oleander-Rennen.

The Aga Khan Studs' broodmare band has many strands of success but this particular one, which includes four of Zarkava's daughters, has been described by Princess Zahra as "our flagship family", and it is easy to see why. In a touching video to mark the retirement of Zarkava last October, she said, "Zarkava means so much. Her ninth dam was Mumtaz Mahal, who my great grandfather bought in Newmarket in 1922. She was known as the Flying Filly, she was a champion British racehorse, and after that she became a foundational mare for our breeding operation. Generations later [came] Petite Etoile. She was bred by my great grandfather and raced in the colours of my grandfather, and when he sadly passed away, she raced in my father's colours. "Petite Etoile was a brilliant racehorse but was a very shy breeder and she produced only one filly, and my father named her Zahra." Special indeed.