ASCOT, UK — Two years, two geldings, two King Georges. Francis Graffard has carried all before him in his native France this season and he returned triumphant to Ascot on Saturday with Calandagan his willing accomplice to repeat the success last year of stable-mate Goliath.
“I'd prefer to have a very good gelding than a bad colt,” the trainer quipped in response to a query as to the missing anatomy of the son of Gleneagles. It is hard to argue with that assertion when scrutinising Calandagan's increasingly impressive race record, which now includes back-to-back Group 1 wins at Saint-Cloud and Ascot and another four runner-up finishes at the top level, including behind City Of Troy in the top-rated race in the world last year, the G1 Juddmonte International.
The Aga Khan Studs' homebred was narrowly favoured over Jan Brueghel to continue his run of success at the Berkshire track, where he first properly burst onto the scene last year with his six-length romp in the King Edward VII Stakes. Onlookers were expecting a battle royal between that pair, who had been first and second when last they met in the Coronation Cup at Epsom. But if there is anything to be learned from the 75th running of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, it is never to second-guess the race tactics of the Ballydoyle runners.
The St Leger-winning duo of Jan Brueghel and Continuous took up the running from the outset but instead of going on as might have been expected, Continuous was under an apparent tight hold from Wayne Lordan to sit at the girth of Jan Brueghel and Ryan Moore as they hugged the rail up front, with Rebel's Romance tucked in behind the Aidan O'Brien pair.
Having settled nicely behind the leading trio, Juddmonte's homebred Kalpana was let loose by Oisin Murphy as they rounded the home turn, quickly sliding round the outside to take up the running herself in a manner that meant business. For Calandagan and Mickael Barzalona, who had been last throughout the early stages but followed through in her slipstream, it took nearly the full length of the Ascot straight to thwart the determined Kalpana and steal a length victory, ensuring the King George trophy would leave for France for the second year running.
“The tactics during the race were not what I was expecting, when I saw Continuous going very steadily it was all different,” said Graffard. “When the filly kicked on for home my horse was still travelling well and I was hoping he was going to catch her at the end. He lengthened so strongly, he's a very good horse.”
Francis Graffard, right, with The Queen and Sir Francis Brooke | Emma Berry
HH Aga Khan III won just the second running of the King George back in 1952 with his Derby, Eclipse and St Leger winner of the same year, Tulyar. His grandson, HH Aga Khan IV, struck next with the brilliant Shergar in 1981 and that success was followed by victories for Alamshar and Azamour in 2003 and 2005. Twenty years on and that great owner-breeder is no longer with us but his legacy will live on well beyond his sad passing back in February, as this season's results have already exemplified.
With his gelded status, Calandagan is something of an outlier in the racing operation of the Aga Khan Studs but he is not alone. Vazirabad carried the green-and-red silks with notable success through 13 group victories in France and Dubai, and Calandagan is another step up still from that great stayer.
“As a two-year-old he was very difficult in the morning and first time out at Deauville he didn't want to load,” said Graffard as he explained what would certainly have been a reluctant decision to geld Calandagan. “Second start he dropped the jockey on the way to the stalls. I taught him to load with the starters at Deauville for four days but we struggled to load him and he showed a lot of character during the race and he was third. I had no choice really.”
So, on the one hand, no stallion career beckons, but that can have its upside too. Calandagan has already taken his connections from France to England and Dubai. Greater globetrotting will surely ensue, and all the while he is only enhancing the record of his family members within the breeding operation. Behind him follows a winning three-year-old half-sister Calamandra (New Bay) and an as-yet unraced two-year-old filly named Calasita (Zarak). Whatever they end up doing, it never hurts to have a big brother as cool as Calandagan.
Pat Downes and Nemone Routh of the Aga Khan Studs team had been the first in the pre-parade ring as they awaited the appearance of Calandagan from the racecourse stables, and Downes said in the joyful melée following his triumph, “If we hadn't gelded him, maybe we wouldn't be standing here today. We just don't know. But he's so consistent. He's a very, very talented horse.”
He added, “I must say, when they are geldings there is less pressure, and you can really have a fun horse, and that's what he is, albeit at a very high level.”
There is no such thing as a bad King George but it takes more than one high-level performer to make it an enthralling contest, and that is exactly what Kalpana brought to the party. Blooming with dapples as she walked the pre-parade ring, this beautiful daughter of Study Of Man was admittedly relegated to the runner-up spot today but it is easy to believe that more Group 1 glory will come her way – and we can all recall the subsequent success of last year's runner-up, Bluestocking.
Kalpana's trainer Andrew Balding said, “We're thrilled with her. She has run magnificently and has been beaten by a very good horse but she has lost little in defeat.”
For Godolphin's Rebel's Romance, trapped behind Jan Brueghel as Kalpana made her run, it was ultimately another third-place finish in this race, just ahead of Jan Brueghel, who returned to the fourth-place spot in the paddock without his saddle and jockey.
The winner cannot of course be aimed at the Arc but he could be seen back on English shores as soon as August 20 for a repeat crack at the Juddmonte International. The small matter of a $3 million bonus is on offer should Calandagan go on to win the Japan Cup after winning the King George, with the latter also having 'win-and-you're-in' status for the Breeders' Cup.
“I would have no problem bringing him back to 10 furlongs, but I will discuss it with the owner,” Graffard said. “A mile and a half is also the perfect distance for him, but he ran really strongly in the race at York last year and if he comes back really well, why avoid the race?
“We could maybe go for the Japan Cup at the end of the season. He will have a big target somewhere.”
Saturday, Ascot, Britain
KING GEORGE VI & QUEEN ELIZABETH STAKES-G1, £1,500,000, Ascot, 7-26, 3yo/up, 11f 211yT, 2:29.74, gd.
1–CALANDAGAN (IRE), 135, g, 4, by Gleneagles (Ire)
1st Dam: Calayana (Fr) (GSP-Fr), by Sinndar (Ire)
2nd Dam: Clariyn (Fr), by Acclamation (GB)
3rd Dam: Clodovina (Ire), by Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire)
O/B-Aga Khan Studs; T-Francis-Henri Graffard; J-Mickael Barzalona. £850,650. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Fr & G1SP-UAE, 12-6-5-1, $3,759,022. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Kalpana (GB), 132, f, 4, Study Of Man (Ire)–Zero Gravity (GB), by Dansili (GB). O-Juddmonte; B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd; T-Andrew Balding. £322,500.
3–Rebel's Romance (Ire), 135, g, 7, Dubawi (Ire)–Minidress (GB), by Street Cry (Ire). O/B-Godolphin; T-Charlie Appleby. £161,400.
Margins: 1, 2HF, NK. Odds: 1.10, 7.50, 5.00.
Also Ran: Jan Brueghel (Ire), Continuous (Jpn).
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