Dubai: Calandagan wins fifth straight Group 1 in Sheema Classic
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It took more work than one might have imagined, but odds-on favorite Calandagan eventually wore down the longshot pacesetter West Wind Blows and won the Group 1, $6 million Dubai Sheema Classic on Saturday at Meydan Racecourse.
The highest rated horse in the world last year by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, Calandagan launched his 5-year-old season Saturday winning his fifth straight Group 1. Calandagan finished second in the 2025 Sheema Classic and two months later was second in the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom Downs in England, but since has won the Grand Prix de Saint Cloud, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II, the Champion, the Japan Cup, and now the Sheema – a truly remarkable run.
Based in France with trainer Francis-Henri Graffard, Calandagan, because he’s gelded, isn’t eligible for Europe’s most important 1 1/2-mile race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but he has handled international travel with aplomb.
Regular rider Mickael Barzalona gave Calandagan an exceedingly patient trip in the 1 1/2-mile Sheema, sitting second-last, trailed only by Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Ethical Diamond, while West Wind Blows – a 38-1 shot in this six-runner field – raced several lengths clear under Rossa Ryan. Barzalona sat, and sat, and sat some more, finally coming off cover with a little more than 400 meters to race and letting Calandagan get down to business.
A gelding of modest size and scope, Calandagan has a big run – and he needed most of it to get to West Wind Blows. While churning well clear of the others, Calandagan didn’t take West Wind Blows’ measure until about 100 meters remained, going on to a three-quarters length victory. Giavellotto checked in a well beaten third, with Ethical Diamond unable to quicken from last, crossing the line fifth.
“He’s got his own attitude. I know him very well now,” Barzalona said in a post-race interview. “He always gives plenty in the end. I didn’t expect West Wind Blows to give me that hard a race.”
Calandagan ran 2,400 meters over good ground in 2:278.88, about standard for this race. He paid $2.60 on the American tote. An Aga Khan Studs homebred, Calandagan is by Gleneagles out of the Sinndar mare Calayana. His record now stands at 15-9-5-1 with career earnings over $12 million.
“The race was very tactical,” Graffard said. “I was a little worried, but when he finally [hit his] stride and came into the straight, he’s just incredible. He has a big reputation now, so I felt a lot of pressure today.”
The Sheema pressure is off. The global Group 1 winning streak stands at 5.
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