Haras d’Etreham will welcome three-time Group 1 winner Persian King to its roster for the 2021 breeding season when the son of Kingman concludes his racing career.

The winner of last season’s French Derby added the Prix d’Ispahan and Prix du Moulin to his record earlier this year and will make the step up to a mile and a half for the first time when he contests Sunday’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

As the second foal out of the Dylan Thomas mare Pretty Please, the four-year-old hails from a strong Wildenstein family with his pedigree including notable greats Pawneese and Peintre Celebre.

Entrusted to French maestro Andre Fabre by owner Ballymore Thoroughbreds, helmed by Diane Wildenstein, Persian King was off the mark on his second start as a two-year-old before going on to capture the Group 3 Autumn Stakes at Newmarket in October 2018.

That performance led to Godolphin acquiring a 50% share in the son of Kingman and that purchase was rewarded when he took the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau and the Poule d’Essai des Poulains.

As well as his two Group 1 wins this year, Persian King has also captured the Group 2 Prix du Muget.

Nicolas de Chambure said: “Persian won his Group race at two and continued to progress at four. He has everything I like in a horse as he always performs to a high level and is sound, while he is blessed with a lot of class and brings some very interesting bloodlines as well, being out of a granddaughter to Giant’s Causeway.

“We actually tried to buy into him at two after he’d won his conditions race, but it was Darley who ended up buying half, so we are really very happy to be able to come to an agreement with everyone now.

“He has a very different profile to Hello Youmzain and that is great because they are two horses that offer something completely different to breeders.

“On the one hand it is a show of confidence on the part of the owners in Etreham and the team here which is great. But just as importantly it is a vote for French breeding and French racing. It is a very strong sign that there is belief in France as a place to launch him as a stallion in preference to Britain or Ireland.”

You can read more about the breeding behind Haras d’Etreham’s newest recruit in this in-depth article from Bloodstock Editor Nancy Sexton following Persian King’s victory in the Prix d’Ispahan.