Calandagan, Jan Brueghel meet again in King George at Ascot

Four-year-olds Calandagan and Jan Brueghel, who finished a half-length apart last month in their first meeting, will be matched again as the top two choices Saturday in the Group 1, US$1,875,000 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in England.

The right-handed race covering nearly 1 1/2 miles at Ascot is an automatic qualifier for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Only five horses, ages 3 and up, were entered.

France-based Calandagan (3-2), the favorite Saturday morning in U.K. betting, was an odds-on winner June 29 in the 1 1/2-mile Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1) in France. That snapped a streak of three consecutive seconds as the favorite in Group 1 races. The Aga Khan Studs homebred gelding by Gleneagles is trained by Francis Graffard, who won the King George last year with Goliath. Calandagan will be ridden by Mickaël Barzalona from post 4 on Saturday.

Jan Brueghel (9-5) from Ireland was the 3-1 second choice when he upset Calandagan on June 6 in the 1 1/2-mile Coronation Cup (G1) at Epsom. Owned by Westerberg and Coolmore and trained by four-time King George winner Aidan O’Brien, the lightly raced Galileo colt is 6: 5-1-0 despite a propensity for lathering himself in sweat before he stalks the pace in his races. Ryan Moore seeks his third King George win as he pilots Jan Brueghel from post 2.

Rebel’s Romance (5-1), who finished third in this race on his way to winning the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Turf, returns for his breeder-owner Godolphin. Since that Del Mar triumph, the 7-year-old Dubawi gelding is 4: 3-0-0 including Group 2 wins in the 1 3/4-mile Yorkshire Cup on May 16 and in the 1 1/2-mile Hardwicke on June 21 at Royal Ascot. With $13,414,048 in earnings, Rebel’s Romance is trained by Charlie Appleby. He will be ridden again by two-time King George winner William Buick, this time from the inside post.

Kalpana (5-1), a 4-year-old filly bred and owned by Juddmonte, is a pace presser who has raced 10 times including six starts against males, beating them four times. As a 4-5 favorite against fillies and mares June 28, she finished second to 8-5 Whirl in the 1 1/4-mile Pretty Polly (G1). That was at the Curragh in Ireland, where she made her season debut with a third-place finish May 25 in the 1 5/16-mile Gold Cup (G1). The Juddmonte homebred daughter of Study Of Man made her Group 1 debut with an October win in the 1 7/16-mile British Champion Fillies & Mares at Ascot. Oisín Murphy rides for trainer Andrew Balding out of post 5 on Saturday.

Continuous (125-1), a 5-year-old Heart’s Cry horse, will set a rabbit’s pace for stablemate Jan Brueghel. Also owned by Coolmore and Westerberg, he has lost his last 10 races by an average of nearly 11 lengths. O’Brien assigned jockey Wayne Lordan to Continuous, who will go from post 3.

The Met Office in Great Britain forecast a partly sunny day with a post-time temperature of 72 degrees and a 40% chance of precipitation beforehand. The ground is expected to be good for the King George, which is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. EDT.