Calandagan bids for Champion repeat on stacked Ascot card

Calandagan was in the midst of the best stretch of his career when he won the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot last October, his third victory in a five-race winning streak in top-level races.

Calandagan is a slight favorite to win Saturday’s $1.72 million Champion Stakes at 1 1/4 miles and become the first repeat winner of the famous autumn race since Cracksman in 2017-18.

To do so, Calandagan must revert to his peak form of 2025 and early 2026 for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard and jockey Christophe Soumillon.

Only six entered the Champion Stakes, but the field includes Ombudsman, a five-time Group 1 winner; Bay City Roller, a game second by 1 1/4 lengths in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris on Oct. 4; and Constitution River, winner of the Group 1 French Derby in May.

Calandagan, a 5-year-old gelding owned by Aga Khan Studs, has won 2 of 4 starts this year, all at 1 1/2 miles. He won the Group 1 Sheema Classic in Dubai in May but was fourth of six behind Bay City Roller in the Group 1 Coronation Cup on good-to-soft ground at Epsom Racecourse in Britain in June.

Calandagan rebounded to beat a modest field in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud in Paris in July but was beaten 1 1/2 lengths by the brilliant mare Kalpana in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 25 at Ascot.

A closer, Calandagan should have a pace to follow on Saturday in Devil’s Advocate, who is entered as a pacesetter for stablemate Ombudsman. Both are trained by John and Thady Gosden.

Ombudsman, a winner of 9 of 13 starts, won the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at the Royal Ascot meeting in June, but was only fourth in the Group 1 International Stakes at 1 5/16 miles at York Racecourse in August, racing in traffic briefly in the long stretch.

In the 2025 Champion Stakes, Calandagan finished 2 1/4 lengths in front of Ombudsdman. They figure to dominate Saturday’s short field.

Last fall, Bay City Roller was fourth in a Group 2 at Longchamp and later won a Group 1 in Munich in November. Bay City Roller was 17-2 when he won the Coronation Cup, his only win in five starts this year. A victory on Saturday would be another minor upset.

Constitution River was supplemented earlier this week for $92,700 to Saturday’s Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at a mile at Ascot but will start in the Champion Stakes for trainer Aidan O’Brien.

The Champion is the final race in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, and its winner will gain a fees-paid entry into the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf, as well as travel expenses.

In the $1.45 million Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, O’Brien’s best hope is Gstaad, winner of such races as the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar last fall and the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas in May.

Gstaad, who will be ridden by Ryan Moore, is one of three leading contenders in the 11-runner Queen Elizabeth II Stakes along with expected favorite Talk Of New York and Rayif.

Talk Of New York, trained by Charlie Appleby, won the Group 2 Joel Stakes at seven furlongs by 4 3/4 lengths on Sept. 25 at Newmarket Racecourse. Saturday’s race is the richest of his career.

Rayif, trained by Graffard, has won two Group 1 races at a mile this year in France – the French 2000 Guineas against 3-year-olds in May, and his debut against older horses in the Prix Jacques Le Marois on Aug. 16 at Deauville.

The Queen Elizabeth II Stakes is Rayif’s first start outside of France.

There are three other Group 1 races worth $662,000 each on the Ascot program.

Caballo De Mar and Highwayman risk two- and three-race winning streaks in the British Champions Long Distance Cup at two miles.

Almeraq, winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at six furlongs at Royal Ascot in June, will be a heavy favorite in the British Champions Sprint against 15 rivals.

Kalpana, fifth in the Arc de Triomphe, leads a field of 13 in the British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes at 1 1/2 miles.