Bred by Saif Ali and produced from the Darshaan mare Marienbad, Marienbard retired with eight wins from 17 starts and $1,973,520 in earnings.
Arc winner and Irish champion Marienbard has been retired and will stand at East Stud in Japan. His biggest win came in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Lucien Barriere (Fr-I) at Longchamp for Godolphin. He was not pre-entered for the Breeders' Cup. The 5-year-old son of Caerleon reached his peak this year, achieving three consecutive group I victories that culminated in his famous Arc triumph. He produced a tremendous turn of foot to vanquish 15 opponents in France's premier contest, with the top French hope Sulamani and dual Derby winner High Chaparral in second and third. respectively. The sale of an Arc winner to a Japanese party for stallion duty has been common over the past two decades. Dancing Brave, the 1986 winner, stood in Japan,. He died in 1999. Other Arc winners to make their way to Japan were Tony Bin, Carnegie, Lammtarra, and Helissio. Tony Bin ranked among Japan's best stallions behind Sunday Silence prior to his death in 2000. Marienbard had previously captured the WGZ Bank-Deutschlandpreis (Ger-I) at Dusseldorf and the Grosser Preis von Baden(Ger-I) at Baden-Baden. Earlier this year, he won an English group II event. Last year in Ireland, he was a champion older male. His trainer, Saeed bin Suroor, said: "Marienbard was a great racehorse. He improved a lot this year and has been very brave in his races."He was the impressive winner of four races this year and we are going to miss him. He beat the best horses in the Arc and he is the best of the best now."Marienbard has a very good temperament and was easy to train, always relaxed. This year he was a real professional horse, trying to give his best all the time."