Markazi scores at Sakes Level on the same race card. The Aga Khan Studs enjoyed a flying start to the Parisian flat season on Sunday at Saint-Cloud, thanks to a Listed success for Markazi and a smooth victory for Sea The Stars’ son Cloth Of Stars in the Group 3 Prix Exbury.

Already a Group scorer at ages two and three, Cloth Of Stars was making a return to competition after an absence of eight months. The Godolphin colour-bearer was unextended when lifting the ten furlong contest by a length and a quarter from Star Victory, setting a new record of 2’07’’50 for the race. The Prix Exbury success is the fifth Group win for Cloth Of Stars, who has also placed second and third in Group 1 company.

A satisfied Mickael Barzalona declared, “He ran very well today, and showed a good acceleration before relaxing once he hit the front. He’s a horse who has always shown his true worth since he was a two-year-old. He’s a really nice horse, with a lot of quality.”

By Gilltown Stud sire Sea The Stars, Cloth Of Stars is out of an unraced Kingmambo half-sister to Epsom Oaks heroine Light Shift. He was bought as a yearling by the Godolphin operation for 400,000 Guineas at Tattersalls in October 2014.

On the same card, H.H. the Aga Khan’s colours were carried to success in the Listed Prix Omnium II by the elegant grey Markazi. This son of Dark Angel and winning Barathea mare Marasima was winning his fifth race, and has finished in the first three in all seven outings, including a short head defeat in the Listed Prix de la Californie at Cagnes-sur-Mer last time out. The Jean-Claude Rouget-trained colt holds an entry in the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains at Deauville on 14th May and his next race is likely to be the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau, a trial for the French 2000 Guineas.

Updated on 21/03/2017.