Unbeaten French colt Midak to be supplemented for Derby

Unbeaten French colt

Midak

will be supplemented for the Betfred on Monday, it was exclusively revealed on Racing TV’s Luck On Sunday.

This year’s premier Classic is named in honour of the late His Highness Aga Khan IV this year and Midak, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, will carry his famous green silks.

The Aga Khan, who died in February, will always be synonymous with the great race.

Shergar (1981), Shahrastani (1986), Kahyasi (1988) Sinndar (2000) and Harzand (2016) all ruled on the Surrey Downs for him. 

His grandfather, The Aga Khan III, had also won the Derby with Blenheim (1930), Baharm (1935), Mahmoud 1936), My Love (1948) and Tulyar (1952).

The Aga Khan IV's, daughter, Princess Zahra, gave Racing TV’s Nick Luck an exclusive interview during which she revealed Midak would take part in the Derby after preserving his 100 per cent record with victory in the Group Three Prix Greffule, last time out.

Not originally entered, the supplementary fee is £75,000. 

Princess Zahra, said: “My family and I are incredibly grateful to Epsom and The Jockey Club for running the race in honour of my father.

“I'm touched, and he would be incredibly chuffed. It's a great honour for him and it would have made him very happy.

The Derby is an iconic event that he deeply loved and winning it for the first time with Shergar brought him immense pride and joy. It gave him the sense that the work his father and grandfather had accomplished with the breeding operation was being carried forward.“He eventually matched the record of my great-grandfather when Harzand secured his fifth Derby victory - a wonderful achievement.”

French-trained challengers have been successful ten times in The Derby, with Pour Moi (2011) the first French raider to score since Empery in 1976. Pour Moi won the Prix Greffule en route to glory.

Midak’s presence will add another layer of intrigue in Saturday’s £1.5 million showpiece.

Other runners on course to run are

Ruling Court

, the 2000 Guineas winner, plus the unbeaten Pride Of Arras, superb winner of the Dante. And Aidan O’Brien, who has already secured a record ten winners of the race, has five challengers to juggle.