Kooringal Stud is mourning the loss of top stallion Zariz.
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Zariz passed away suddenly on Sunday, aged 21, due to heart failure.
Kooringal Stud principal Stuart Lamont said the loss caught them by surprise.
“Zariz covered two mares the previous day and was in wonderful condition, so his death has come as a great shock to us all,” Lamont said.
Zariz has produced 301 winners to date, that have won 986 races at 65 per cent strike rate of winners to runners.
Some of his best progeny include group winners Laser Sharp, Zaratone, Shiraz and Riziz.
Zariz’s progeny’s prizemoney per starter is just short of $40,000.
Lamont said Zariz had an outstanding career at stud.
“He was really successful. A bit of a surprise packet really,” he said.
“His breeding was not very fashionable but in saying that, you never know where a great sire comes from.
“He sired a lot of very good racehorses, horses you were confident you would win races with.
“They weren’t necessarily two-year-olds but if you had a sound horse then they could still be winning races at eight or 10.”
Lamont said Zariz will be dearly missed at Kooringal.
“It certainly is a big loss,” he said.
“He was popular all the way through and even this year he still had a decent book of mares, even at 21. He was still very fertile.
“He’ll certainly be missed, very much so.”
Zariz, by Mukaddamah, enjoyed a brilliant career on the racetrack, winning seven races and placing a further five times from 20 career starts.
Trained by Gerald Ryan, Zariz won the group two San Domenico (1000m), group two Up & Coming Stakes (1200m), group three BTC Sprint (1350m) and the listed Heritage Stakes (1300m) in an outstanding three-year-old season.
Kooringal Stud thanked all that supported Zariz over the years.
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