Hafiz (horse)

Hafiz
Aga Khan III's racing colours
Sire	Nearco
Grandsire	Pharos
Dam	Double Rose
Damsire	Macaron
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1952
Country	France
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Aga Khan III & Prince Aly Khan
Owner	Aga Khan III Larry MacPhail
Trainer	Alec Head
Record	13:6-3-0
Major wins
Prix de Guiche (1955) Prix Greffulhe (1955) Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (1955) Champion Stakes (1955)
Awards
Timeform rating 136

Hafiz (1952 – 1971) was a French Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from 1954 until 1956 he ran at least thirteen times and won six races. As a three-year-old in 1955 he won the Prix de Guiche and the Prix Greffulhe in France before winning the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Champion Stakes in Britain. He was disappointing for most of the following season but produced what was arguably his best performance when finishing second under top weight in the Cambridgeshire Handicap. He made no impact at stud.

When racing in Britain and later while standing as a stallion in the United States, the horse was known as Hafiz II.

Hafiz was a big, powerful chestnut horse with four white feet bred in France by the Aga Khan in partnership with his son Prince Aly Khan. During the early part of his racing career he was owned by the Aga Khan and trained at Chantilly by Alec Head. Hafiz was a difficult horse to manage, with a nervous, excitable disposition, and often sweated heavily before the start of his races.

He was sired by Nearco, an undefeated Italian champion who went on to become one of the most important sires of the 20th century. His dam, Double Rose, was a top class racemare who finished second in the 1949 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the colours of Aly Khan's wife, Rita Hayworth.

Hafiz was not highly tried as a two-year-old. He finished second in the Prix de Saint-Firmin over 1000 metres at Longchamp Racecourse and then won a minor race at Maisons-Laffitte. At the end of the season a half share in the colt was sold to the American breeder Larry MacPhail.