Calandagan lands King George victory to seal repeat success for trainer Graffard

The Guardian

a day ago

Calandagan, the 11-10 favourite, passed all four of his rivals in the home straight here on Saturday to win the 75th running of the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. It gave his trainer, Francis-Henri Graffard, a second successive win in the Ascot showpiece after Goliath's 25-1 victory 12 months ago.
Kalpana, the only filly in the race, struck for home inside the final quarter-mile under Oisin Murphy and opened a useful lead, but Calandagan and Mickael Barzalona were soon eating into her advantage with every stride and Calandagan was in front with a dozen strides to spare.
He was a length clear of Kalpana at the line, with Rebel's Romance next across the line and Jan Brueghel, who beat Calandagan into second place in last month's Coronation Cup, fourth.
This story will be updated.