Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud: Win machine Calandagan tries to bounce back after awful race
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Four weeks after the worst loss of his career, Calandagan will start as a heavy favorite in Sunday’s Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud at Saint-Cloud Racecourse in Paris.
In a 16-race career, Calandagan had never finished worse than third before he ran fourth, beaten 42 lengths, by Bay City Roller on soft turf in the Group 1 Coronation Cup at Epsom Racecourse in Britain on June 5. Calandagan raced toward the rear of the six-horse field before fading from contention through the uphill finish.
The loss ended a remarkable streak of five Group 1 wins in France, Britain, Japan, and Dubai that began with the 2025 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and included the Japan Cup last November and Sheema Classic in Dubai in March.
A win on Sunday would make Calandagan the sixth horse to win two runnings of the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. The most recent to do so was Ange Gabriel in 2002 and 2003.
Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard for the family of the late Aga Khan, Calandagan won the 2025 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud by 3 1/2 lengths over Aventure.
The same exacta may be the outcome on Sunday in the $457,000 race at 1 1/2 miles.
Aventure, a 5-year-old mare, was held out of the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes in Ireland on June 27 in favor of the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, which drew a field of eight.
Aventure, trained by Christophe Ferland, won the Group 2 Prix Corrida for fillies and mares at 1 5/16 miles at Longchamp Racecourse on May 24, her first victory since the Group 1 Prix Vermeille for fillies and mares at 1 1/2 miles at Longchamp last September.
In the Prix Corrida, Aventure raced near the front and finished three-quarters of a length in front of Sunly, an outsider in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Aside from Calandagan and Aventure, two other leading contenders are Cualificar and Leffard.
Leffard, winner of the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris for 3-year-olds at 1 1/2 miles at Longchamp last July, was second to Daryz in the Group 1 Prix Aga Khan at 1 1/8 miles at Longchamp on May 21. The Prix Aga Khan was previously run as the Prix d’Ispahan.
Cualificar was third in the Group 2 Grand Prix de Chantilly at 1 1/2 miles at Chantilly Racecourse on May 31, finishing 2 1/4 lengths behind Goliath.
Daryz and Goliath, both trained by Graffard, are two notable absentees from the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Daryz, winner of the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last October, finished third in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in Britain on June 17. Goliath was third by 1 3/4 lengths in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at Ascot on June 20.
Post time for the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud is 10:40 a.m. Eastern or 7:40 a.m. Pacific.
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