Connections are confident Calandagan is “spot on” as he prepares to defend his title in the 76th running of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.
The brilliant five-year-old beat Kalpana a length in the 2025 renewal before going on to win the QIPCO Champion Stakes, Japan Cup and Dubai Sheema Classic.
He had a rare off-day in the Betfred Coronation Cup at Epsom which connections put down to the attritional conditions and he was back to winning ways in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud at the start of this month, a sixth Group One success.
Director and French racing manager for the Aga Khan Studs, Nemone Routh, said on Tuesday morning after watching him exercise: “The King George has always been Calandagan’s main objective this summer. We toyed with the idea of not going to Saint-Cloud because we did not want to compromise his chances for the King George, but he came right just before that race, and we felt we needed to know where we were with him after Epsom.
“Calandagan has come out of Saint-Cloud very well. Mentally, I think it was a very good race for him. His regular rider thinks he has improved from Saint-Cloud and is spot on for the King George, which he will need to be as it looks a stronger field this year. He will have to be at the top of his form, but we know he loves Ascot and always runs well there.
“Calandagan has been the ultimate racehorse for us. He is so consistent and, if he can, always gives the best of himself. He is just a top-class horse. He is incredibly special to us as an organisation and has taken us to places we never thought we would conquer, like the Japan Cup.
“He has a great mind for the game. He is an intelligent horse with a very strong personality. He is pretty laidback and runs his races the way he wants to. He does not get involved with the early pace, as he likes to lob along out the back, and then he has incredible acceleration that is sustained over the last few furlongs. Mickael [Barzalona] says, ‘once I ask him to quicken, he just never stops.’ That is his main weapon.”
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