Around 100 years ago a French Cavalry officer , Lt Colonel JJ Vuillier , devised an ingenious method of analysing Pedigrees of Racehorses. He determined that almost every Pedigree of well performed Racehorses at the highest class , contained the same ancestors as Champions of the day, going back some 12 Generations.

He was able to quantify his research using Galton’s Law of Ancestral Heredity encapsulated in the following . explanation ... “Galton's ancestral law states that the two parent contribute between them on average one-half of the total heritage of the offspring, the four grandparents one-quarter, and so on” .In this context, it extends back 12 generations of a Pedigree that comprises 4096 ancestors.

Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan iii having become interested in British Horse Racing, was so impressed by Vuillier’s work that he engaged him to be his Bloodstock Pedigree Consultant , and this single act laid the foundations in creating a Family Dynasty , by being without question the most successful Thoroughbred Operation in the World, surviving the aftermath and legacies of the first and Second world Wars.

Karim Aga Khan iv, the 84 year old grandson of Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan iii , took over the family business , amongst other duties, on the death of both his Grandfather the Aga Khan and Father, Aly Khan , has the distinction of breeding and owning over 100 individual Group 1 Winners of over 150 races, again a feat unlikely to be emulated, and certainly NOT by ones Grandson.