Calandagan reigns in ‘King George’ as Ballydoyle tactics backfire
You can never be right one hundred per cent of the time, even though Aidan O’Brien seems so rarely to put a foot wrong. However, in the Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, French star Calandagan taught the British and Irish horses a lesson in common sense as farcical Ballydoyle tactics proved their own undoing, writes Paul Alster.
To put the events of last weekend in perspective you have to go back seven weeks to the Group 1 Betfred Coronation Cup at Epsom, a race that proved just about the best of the Derby weekend. Last year’s St Leger hero Jan Brueghel had moved into the lead over two furlongs out as he took over from his stable companion and pacemaker, Continuous, winner of the 2023 St. Leger, but he soon looked a sitting duck for the star French colt Calandagan as the late Aga Khan’s charge breezed up alongside at the furlong pole.
Calandagan looked sure to win and traded long odds-on in-running, but the stamina shown by Jan Brueghel saw him refuse to give way and he eventually outstayed the Francis-Henri Graffard-trained raider to score a famously determined success by half a length. The form was subsequently franked by the runner-up who three weeks later used his noted to turn of foot to land the steadily run, five-runner Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint Cloud in some style.
Fast forward to Saturday and the five-runner £1.5 million mid-summer showpiece, in which Jan Brueghel and Continuous faced Calandagan once again. The high-class filly Kalpana and the globe-trotting Godolphin star Rebel’s Romance made up a small but very select field. Continuous was expected act as pacemaker to make this a thorough test of stamina, seeking to draw the finishing kick out of Calandagan who had been heavily backed down to 11/10 favourite. Jan Brueghel was notably uneasy in the market and drifted out to 5/2.
The stalls opened and Continuous jumped out in front, but only for a few strides. To everyone’s surprise, he was immediately reined back by Wayne Lordan, leaving Jan Brueghel, under the normally flawless Ryan Moore, to set a pedestrian gallop as the others watched on and waited to pounce. Moore gradually raised the pace from halfway, but by the home turn it was clear that his mount was in trouble. Furiously ridden to hold his position two furlongs out, he was soon left for dead, first by Ralph Beckett’s Kalpana, who quickened in fine style, then again by Calandagan, who kicked in the turbo at the furlong pole and burst away to a hugely impressive win under Mickael Barzalona.
Rebel’s Romance met trouble in running and kept on for third as Jan Brueghel eventually managed to beat just one home, his stable companion and supposed pacemaker, Continuous.
It’s hard to figure out the logic of the two Ballydoyle proven stayers being ridden for a turn of foot against faster horses, but there must have been some line of reasoning that suggested that if they gradually wound the pace up, that would be against both Calandagan and Kalpana. The extent to which this ruse backfired was evident in speed analysis figures presented on At The Races, indicating that remarkably both the winner and the runner-up clocked faster times over the final two furlongs than the Group 1 sprint star Lazzat achieved when landing the six furlong Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes on similar ground at the royal meeting the previous month.
Among all the comment and post mortem of a race that will be talked about for a very long time, it should not be forgotten that Calandagan put up a sparkling display. He settled beautifully off the slow early pace, cruised into it like a proper racehorse, quickened to follow Kalpana – and then quickened again to race away with one of the most prestigious events in the racing calendar. For her part, Kalpana, (who would surely be better suited by easier ground), has placed herself in pole position for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in the autumn, a race her connections won in 2024 with the outstanding Bluestocking.
As for Jan Brueghel, he remains a very good horse when ridden to his stamina strengths. The Irish St Leger could be a target for him now, while the ‘Arc’ may also enter the equation for a rematch with Kalpana. In a quirk of the rules of racing, poor old Calandagan won’t be allowed to take his chance in Paris as he is a gelding.
Paul Alster has broadcast and reported on the British racing industry for four decades as a commentator, journalist, presenter, betting correspondent, SP Returner, tipster and form analyst, among other things.