Ascot: Calandagan overhauls Kalpana to win King George

Calandagan, the 3-5 favorite in the World Pool for the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, had to work for it but ultimately left his backers happy, edging clear late to win Saturday's feature at Ascot. The win earned him an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

Jan Brueghel and Continuous, the Aidan O'Brien pair, took the early initiative, with Jan Brueghel ultimately making the top. Rebel's Romance tracked in third along the inside with Kalpana just outside, and Calandagan rounded out the field of five.

Ryan Moore urged Jan Brueghel to go on into the lane, but was no match for Kalpana from the quarter-mile mark. Approaching the furlong mark, the only one moving well enough to look like a threat waas Calandagan, but it wouldn't be easy. Mickaël Barzalona had to ask the favorite for everything he had. Eventually Calandagan found enough, however, and edged away in the final half furlong to win by a length.

Kalpana finished a clear second, 2 1/2 lengths clear of 2022 and 2024 Breeders' Cup Turf winner Rebel's Romance, who overtook pacesetter Jan Brueghel by a neck for third. Continuous, another 14 lengths back, completed the order of finish.

Calandagan finished the 1 1/2 miles in 2:29.74, over turf rated good. He paid his backers $3.40 to win.

Calandagan is a 4-year-old gelding by Gleneagles out of the winning Sinndar mare Calayana. He is trained by Francis-Henri Graffard for the Aga Khan studs, his owner and breeder. He is Graffard's second straight King George winner, as Graffard also trained 2024 winner Goliath.

Calandagan had already shown an affinity for Ascot before Saturday, as he won the King Edward VII (G2) over the 1 1/2-mile trip at Royal Ascot in 2024. He came into the King George off of a 3 1/2-length win over Aventure, last year's runner-up in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1), in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1) on June 29. That was Calandagan's first win at the top level, snapping a streak of second-place runs at the top level behind the likes of City of Troy, Anmaat, Danon Decile and Jan Brueghel.

Without a heady pace to close into, Barzalona had to make tactical decisions in order to keep his mount in the race. "I knew my horse got a good turn of foot, but William (Buick, on Rebel's Romance) was boxed in," Barzalona said in an interview with Sky Sports. "I had the two options, stay inside, and if we don't get the gap...I didn't get it so I had to follow Oisin (Murphy, on Kalpana)."

As a gelding, Calandagan is not eligible for the Arc, though after her second-place run Kalpana has shortened to favorite in early markets at a best price of 10-1. Calandagan did earn a spot in the Breeders' Cup Turf, and though his connections have not confirmed future plans, there has been precedent for King George winners doing well in the Breeders' Cup. Daylami (1999), Conduit (2009) and Highland Reel (2016) swept the pair in the same year. Enable, who won the Breeders' Cup Turf in 2018, won the King George in 2017, 2019 and 2020.