Masquerade Ball

Defending champion Calandagan (Gleneagles) and Japanese star Masquerade Ball (Duramente) are in line for a rematch in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, which will be run for a record £2 million this year. The pair met in the G1 Japan Cup last November, with Calandagan prevailing by a head at Tokyo on his way to being crowned Longines World's Best Racehorse for 2025. The Francis Graffard-trained five-year-old has already raced twice in 2026, first winning the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan, before floundering...

Despite facing what trainer Danny Shum described as the strongest field to go to post for the G1 FWD QEII Cup "for 15 or 20 years", it was a case of business as usual at Sha Tin on Sunday as Romantic Warrior (Acclamation) saw off a formidable international challenge to register a record-extending fourth success in the HK$30-million showpiece on FWD Champions Day. Racing in a clear fourth as last month's Hong Kong Derby second Numbers (Tivaci) led the eight-strong field to the home turn, the strong-travelling Romantic Warrior soon...

You'd have to say the Ka Ying Rising camp is feeling fairly confident, if the reports coming out of Sha Tin are anything to go by two days out from FWD Champions Day. A winner of 19 straight starts, a record for a Hong Kong-trained horse, the son of Shamexpress is coming into the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize with everything in his favour. Not only is the reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year aiming for a title defence in Sunday's 1200-metre contest, but connections feel he can get the...

Christophe Lemaire is counting down the days until Sunday's HK$30-million G1 FWD QEII Cup at Sha Tin, with the French-born jockey expressing his belief that his mount in the race, Masquerade Ball (Duramente), has "the potential to be one of the greats in Japanese racing". Lemaire, who has partnered top-class performers such as Almond Eye and Equinox during his time riding in the Far East, retains the utmost faith in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) winner as he returns to action for the first time since being narrowly beaten by...

Hong Kong Horse of the Year Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) is one of the headline acts for FWD Champions Day at Sha Tin on April 26. A total of HK78 million (€8,522,110) is on offer across the three Group 1 races--the FWD QEII Cup (2000m), FWD Champions Mile and the Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m). Overall, there are 38 entries for the three races (excluding reserves), 13 of them winners at the highest table. A winner of the Chairman's Sprint Prize in 2025, the gelding is aiming for his second win...

In recent weeks, Forever Young has won the world's richest race for the second time, Ka Ying Rising has set a new record in winning 18 consecutive races, Romantic Warrior landed his 13th Group 1 contest, and Rebel's Romance posted his 21st career victory. They have respectively earned the equivalent of approximately £23m, £13m, £26m and £12m. It would seem that there has never been a better time to own a top-class racehorse.  Calandagan, the world's top-rated racehorse in 2025, has just turned five and may be seen next in...

The Shadai Race Horse Company, which owns Masquerade Ball (Duramente) and Jantar Mantar (Palace Malice), has confirmed that neither horse will travel from Japan to the Dubai World Cup meeting, citing the uncertainty surrounding the conflict in Iran and across the Middle East. According to a report on the Nikkan Sports website, the stakeholders of the racing club reached their decision "based on the ongoing uncertainty regarding the smooth transportation to Dubai and the difficulty of ensuring the safety of horses and riders due to the lack of a clear...

With a rating of 130, the Aga Khan Studs homebred Calandagan has been crowned Longines World's Best Racehorse for 2025, ahead of five horses from four different countries who all tied for second on a rating of 128. At a ceremony to mark the Longines Racing Awards at the Savoy Hotel in London on Tuesday, it was confirmed that the performance of Calandagan when winning October's G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot was the best produced by any racehorse on the planet last year. The son of Gleneagles - who also...

TOKYO, JAPAN -- For 20 years the Japan Cup has remained at home. Alkaased (Kingmambo) was the last foreign raider to wrest it from the locals, winning in 2005 for the Italian-born, British-based combo of Luca Cumani and Frankie Dettori. This time around, for the 45th running of the race, the international challenge has been whittled to just one - but he's a good one: Calandagan. The son of Gleneagles, who will jump from stall eight, is the third runner in the race for Francis Graffard, who sent out Erupt...

Race favourite Masquerade Ball, making his first appearance on a racecourse since chasing home Croix Du Nord (Kitasan Black) in June's G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), made the breakthrough at the top level with a comfortable success in Sunday's Tenno Sho (Autumn) at Tokyo Racecourse. Trained by Takahisa Tezuka, Masquerade Ball was allowed to settle in mid-division for much of the 2,000-metre contest. The Duramente colt was caught behind horses as the field closed in on the leader approaching the final turn, having to wait for horses on his outside...

Group 1 winners lie thicker in the field than the falling leaves on the ground in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn), set for Sunday in Kyoto. However, it is G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) runner-up Masquerade Ball (Duramente) who leads in the advance markets as an 8-5 chance against 13 rivals, seven of them Group 1 scorers. Yet to salute at the highest level, the 2024 Listed Ivy Stakes winner's only blip in six lifetime starts was an unplaced run to his Derby conqueror Croix Du Nord (Kitasan Black) in...

Despite losing his unbeaten tag to Museum Mile (Leontes) in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas), Croix Du Nord still carries the burden of favouritism in Sunday's G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby). Never tested at the 2400-metre trip, the son of Kitasan Black and the Cape Cross mare Rising Cross went three-for three in his juvenile season and put an exclamation point on his career thus far in the G1 Hopeful Stakes, defeating Giovanni (Epiphaneia). The Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Colt will leave from stall 13 in the 18-horse field...