Zarak enjoyed a productive weekend in Stakes races on either side of the Atlantic over the weekend.

In the USA, three-year-old Laurelin won the Gr.2 Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes at Saratoga, taking her unbeaten record to five races, four of which have been at Stakes level over a mile. 

"This is a Grade 1 horse," said the filly’s jockey Kendrick Carmouche in the winner's circle. "You can feel the confidence and the relaxedness in this horse. ... She just keeps getting better. It's like driving a Maserati to be exact. She sits in your hand. You move your hand, and she goes. If you pull your hands back, she relaxes. She makes you feel like a winner, and when a horse makes you feel like a winner, you are one."

Bred in Ireland by Mark Dixon and Mount Coote Estates, Laurelin sold for €160,000 at the Goffs Orby Book 1 Sale in 2023 and now races in the colours of Newstead Stables.

Also in the States, Spanish Eyes placed second in the Gr.2 Beverley D Stakes at Colonial Downs. The filly – who was second in the Gr.1 Preis der Diana last year – was bred by Gestüt Karlshof and sold at last year’s Arqana Breeding Stock Sale for €1.3 million to her new owners, Qatar Racing and Michaela Faust.

In Europe, Marquisat became another new Group winner for Zarak when taking the Gr.3 Prix Dubai Racing Club at Deauville. Bred by the same connections as Laurelin, he now races for Godolphin, having been purchased as a yearling at the Tattersalls December Sale.

“He had shown that he has the quality to win such a race, but it remained to be seen how he would do after this long break and on his first start this season,” said Godolphin representative Louise Benard. “We had some anxious moments in the straight when he had nowhere to go, but it was a race with good rhythm and it told at the end. He has an entry in the Grand Prix de Deauville, which would be logical next step, but nothing is confirmed yet.”

At Hoppegarten on Sunday, Koffi Kick won the Listed Hoppegartener Stutenpreis for the second consecutive year. The six-year-old mare was bred by Gestüt Idee and races for Rennstall Darboven.

Zarak, who is now the sire of 21 Group winners and boasts a lifetime Stakes winners to runners ratio of over 11%, has 16 yearlings in at upcoming Arqana August Sale – his first conceived at the increased fee of €60,000.

They include yearlings out of Group 1 winners Simple Verse and Watch Me; half-sisters to Group 1 winner Feed The Flame and juvenile Group 2 winner Vespertilio; a half-brother to Siyouni’s Group 1 placed two-year-old Mount Kilimanjaro; and yearlings out of full or half-sisters to top level winners Bucanero Fuerte, Courage Mon Ami, Stacelita, The Right Man and Wooded.