Aga Khan Studs don’t race a lot of geldings, but one that they do is Calandagan, who made it back to back G1 wins overnight when beating a select field in a tactical battle to win the Group I King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (1m4f) at Ascot.
A notable G1 bridesmaid until his last start win in the Group I Grand Prix de Saint Cloud, the Francis- Henri Graffard trained four year-old son of Gleneagles now seemingly has a taste for winning.
He sat last in the field of five G1 winners and Mickael Barzalona allowed him to stalk his rivals before pouncing late to claim high class mare Kalpana with Godolphin evergreen Rebel’s Romance in third ahead of the Ballydoyle pair of Jan Brueghel and Continuous.
“We know Calandagan’s quality and today the ground was quicker and he's one of these top-class horses. I didn't expect Jan Brueghel to set the pace but once I saw Continuous beside him and Rebel's Romance boxed in, I was happy where I was because I knew either William [Buick] was going to make a gap or Oisin [Murphy] was going to have to go round. I was just waiting to see what happened and when I saw Oisin making the move, I just followed,” said Mickael Barzalona.
“Aidan [O'Brien, trainer] 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,” said Henri-Francis Graffard.
“Mickael [Barzalona, jockey] 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'.”
With six wins and six placings from 12 starts, Calandagan is the best of three winners from three foals to race from Group III placed Sinndar mare with third dam Clodovina, a stakes-placed three-quarter sister to Group I winner Clodovil.
Calandagan is the fifth Group I winner for Gleneagles who stands at Coolmore at a fee of €20,000.
