Calandagan wins the King George at Ascot while Godolphin snares German Group One honours
The Gleneagles gelding was beaten by Jan Brueghel in the Group One Coronation Cup (2,400m) at Epsom in June but reversed the form in no uncertain terms after what looked to be a tactical mishap from Ballydoyle.
From an outsiders view, the Aidan O'Brien-trained Continuous looked to be a pacemaker for his stamina-laden stablemate, but he only sat on his stablemates's shoulder and after setting a modest pace, Jan Brueghel checked out at the 400m point as Kalpana quickened clear.
THE FRENCH RAIDER HAS DONE IT! 🇫🇷
CALANDAGAN WINS THE KING GEORGE VI AND QUEEN ELIZABETH STAKES! pic.twitter.com/BlIgk4azOj — At The Races (@AtTheRaces) July 26, 2025
The move was quickly covered by Mickael Barzalona on Calandagan, however, and the $1.7 favourite assumed command in the final furlong to defeat Kalpana by a length.
The doubters who surfaced after his Epsom defeat were quickly silenced, though there was plenty of anxious moments for Graffard.
'Aidan and his team put a lot of work into the tactics and it's always interesting, but Calandagan is an easy ride and I'm glad he had time to come and catch the filly,' Graffard told the Racing Post.
'Mickael said the last 200 metres are long here and he knew he was going to catch her, but when she kicked for home she was impressive and I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm going to finish second by a neck again'.'
What a finish to the feature in Greyville! 🤯🇿🇦
GLADATORIAN gets up on the line to defeat The Real Prince in the G1 HKJC Champions Cup. #WorldPool | @HKJC_Racing pic.twitter.com/8AFUJkgIQR — World Pool (@WorldPool) July 27, 2025
Rebel's Romance, a Group One winner in Hong Kong last year, was denied a clear run at the top of the straight but stuck on well to finish third.
On Sunday, Greyville's Group One Champions Cup (1,800m) went the way of the Stuart Ferrie-trained Gladatorian, who came late to deny The Real Prince by half a length.
Hong Kong-based Keagan De Melo finished third aboard See It Again, who came there travelling best of all but ultimately did not quite see out the trip.
On the same day in Germany, the Group One Grosser Preis Bayerisches Zuchtrennen (2,000m) was won by Saeed bin Suroor's Tornado Alert, defeating Graffard's Map Of Stars by a comfortable two-and-a-half lengths.
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