Barzalona rides 11-10 favourite to victory at Ascot
Graffard trained Goliath to 25-1 win 12 months ago
Calandagan, the 11-10 favourite, passed all four of his rivals in the home straight 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.
