Horses from France, Ireland and Australia starred on a truly international evening at the 35th Cartier Racing Awards on Wednesday, November 19, with Calandagan taking the Cartier Horse of the Year title, Coolmore picking up four awards and Asfoora winning the Cartier Sprinter accolade.
Brough Scott received a standing ovation at the event, held at the Dorchester Hotel in London, as he was presented with the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit for 2025 after a career in racing that has spanned more than 60 years as a jockey, journalist, broadcaster and author.
Calandagan became the fourth horse bred by the Aga Khan Studs to be crowned Cartier Horse of the Year following Daylami (1999), Dalakhani (2003) and Zarkava (2008), and the first since the passing of His Highness Aga Khan IV in February.
Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, Calandagan has enjoyed a superb campaign in 2025, including defeating top-class opposition in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes and QIPCO Champion Stakes. Brigadier Gerard (1972) is the only other horse in history to win both races in the same season.
Princess Zahra Aga Khan was presented with the Cartier Horse of the Year Award and said: “It has been a very special evening in many ways, and Calandagan is a very special horse. He has been trained by a very wonderful trainer, and this is a very special moment for us because Nemone [Routh, racing manager] and I have been working on this together for almost 30 years and the whole team has really contributed to this. It is wonderful. Francis has done an amazing job, as has Mickael Barzalona and all the team at the stud and the stables.”
On her personal highlights this season, she said: “That is a difficult question, I suppose I would have to say [Daryz winning] the Arc, just because it was so poignant for me. That was a very special day, but they all have been – as Francis said, every winner is a winner. And to me, this makes me remember that both Clodovina and Linamix are in this horse’s pedigree, so therefore I would like to remember Jean-Luc Lagardère, who bred his great granddam, and my dad.”
Calandagan won the Cartier Older Horse award as well, with Graffard adding: “It is amazing to be here. It is my first time at the Cartier Awards. It has been an incredible season and he is an incredible horse, so I’m delighted for him.”
Asked which was the horse’s standout performance, Graffard said: “The Champion Stakes – I was dropping him back in distance and the field was very strong. The ground was good, which was fantastic for the sport, and we saw a fantastic race. I was delighted to win this race. The horse was unbelievable, he’s progressing, and I was happy to see that.
“He is actually on the plane going to Japan. It is going to be a very tough challenge, but I think I have the right horse to take on that challenge and hopefully it goes well next week.”
Asked if he has favourites, Graffard said: “No I don’t, we like them all – even the small handicappers, they deserve all the credit too. We have had an amazing season for the Aga Khan family this year, it’s been fantastic, we have lived a lot of emotions, it’s been very positive, and I hope next year will be the same, and the year after.”
Brough Scott’s tireless contribution to racing was recognised with the Cartier/The Daily Telegraph Award of Merit. The former jockey has established himself as a hugely respected journalist and acclaimed author, in addition to becoming the face of racing on TV for three decades and co-founder of the Racing Post. He has lent his considerable talents to a host of causes throughout the industry and beyond.
On receiving the award, he said: “I am a bit overwhelmed. I want to thank Cartier very much, the judging panel, and all of you. I would like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to the whole racing game, and in particular to the horses, which have lit up our lives and indeed have brought us all together tonight.
“You know my story, and in truth, I’ve been quite ridiculously – and to be frank, rather silver spoonery – lucky. I only got into TV because I was the first professional jockey to be in the media and I managed to progress with the fairly simple pretence of, ‘If you can’t be good, be different’.
“I even survived my first ever interview, which was with the French superstar Yves Saint-Martin, who I knew from my time in Chantilly. Yves came on, he was very sweet and chatted away. But I hadn’t done TV before and there was a lot of noise in my earpiece. Yves was trying to help me, he could see I was nervous, he was talking on – a great, great champion. And I heard this noise in my ear, which I realised was saying, ‘Get him to speak in effing English!’ It was 1971, the 1,000 Guineas, and Altesse Royale [who Yves was there to ride] won the 1,000 Guineas and they all thought I was a rather good tipster, so I survived.
“What a life I’ve had, what places I’ve been, what races I’ve seen. Mill Reef – Brigadier Gerard in 1971; I remember going to the races with Lester [Piggott] when he was riding Nijinsky; Grundy – Bustino; Easy Goer – Sunday Silence in the Breeders’ Cup, amazing. Dancing Brave’s Arc, Nashwan and Dick Hern, Cigar at Belmont and in Dubai, and naturally Frankel unbeaten all the way. And to think that I was lucky to be around for Lester Piggot’s Lazarus act in the Breeders’ Cup 1990 – and I was at Ascot for both Frankie’s magnificent seven and again for his really impossibly perfect swansong on Champions Day two years ago.
“Racing has given me a passport to all over the world and all sorts of society. The same month – I was very proud of this, well, it’s racing that should be proud of it – I was welcomed down a mine and in Buckingham Palace. I stayed with Frank Carr in Malton and with the Aga Khan in Aiglemont. I have had breakfast in lads’ canteens, and one memorable time, lunch in the Paris penthouse of filmstar Omar Sharif.
“That passport has been very special to me. In a way, you could say I’ve had the best of times. Frankly, and I don’t want to get too serious about this, when you get to my stage in the game – you know if you’re 82 turning 83, you know the odds. I really do think every day I need to get shifting here.
“There’s no point just looking back and being pessimistic. Of course we have huge challenges ahead. But racing is infinitely better than it was – facilities for horses, humans and racegoers are much, much better. Nonetheless, the tide is going out on racing interest, we know that. But I believe that we have a central problem, which actually if tackled properly, could be turned to an advantage. My only point really is that, to outsiders, racing seems both exclusive and mysterious. Frankly, in today’s world, modern technology and a modern attitude towards racegoers and racecourses, there’s no excuse for exclusivity. There is no excuse for that now, because we live in a technical age where everybody can get onto websites. Even with a tiny share in a racehorse, you can get gossip and gallops on your phone practically every morning.
“You don’t have to be an owner, everybody has a website now and you can get involved, follow a trainer, follow a stud. And that’s where the mystery comes in, because however detailed the data, however careful the planning, all those trainers, all those jockeys, all those breeders, they know that it is an inexact science. And that the only proof – it’s a terrible truth – is that it always makes sense afterwards. But the more we look at it, a lovely truth is I believe the closer you get to racing, the more interesting it can become. We need to try to get people closer to it, because you can give them more data. Even more than that, the closer you get to the horse, the better it feels. My thanks to them and to all of you. It is a very special evening for me, and made even more special by Francis Brooke giving me a very kind letter from The King about this evening. Thank you for this, it’s been very important to me.”
Horses trained by Aidan O’Brien for Coolmore partnerships dominated the evening’s awards for juveniles and three-year-olds, with Coral-Eclipse and Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes winner Delacroix taking the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt prize.
On receiving the award, Charlie Pearson of Coolmore said: “Having seen Delacroix run at the Eclipse, we all thought half a mile out that he was in real trouble – he got bumped, he stumbled, and then he came back with that immaculate turn of foot. Credit to the horse, credit to Ryan [Moore], credit to the whole team. Thank you very much again to Laurent and the whole team at Cartier, it’s very special. And thank you on behalf of all the partners of the horse.”
Pearson and his wife Sam Magnier also collected the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly award for Minnie Hauk, whose superb season included victories in the Weatherbys ePassport Cheshire Oaks, Betfred Oaks, Juddmonte Irish Oaks and Pertemps Network Yorkshire Oaks. The duo was joined on the stage by Ben Sangster and his wife Lucy, who bred the daughter of Frankel.
Ben Sangster said: “Minnie Hauk is just an amazing filly, you don’t often get them like her – to win four Oaks: Cheshire, English, Irish and Yorkshire.”
Asked how much he has enjoyed being part of the whole journey this year, Mr Sangster said: “It has been amazing. Aidan is just an amazing trainer and when you go to that hotel, you don’t necessarily expect this to happen, but it does happen. He is a wonderful trainer and has done a wonderful job with her.”
Christy Grassick, manager of Coolmore Ireland, picked up the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt award for Gstaad, who rounded off an excellent season with victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
Reflecting on how important it is for the operation to win another Cartier award, Grassick said: “Especially in the two-year-old colt division, it’s really good. I want to make a special mention to [breeder] Kelly Thomas and the team at Maywood. The horse is by one of our stallions [Starspangledbanner], which makes it special. The Cartier Awards are very important to us all, we are very grateful for the support that we get here, and glad to be here again.”
Precise, who captured the Moyglare Stud Stakes and bet365 Fillies’ Mile during a highly progressive autumn, won the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly award, with Coolmore UK representative Kevin Buckley taking to the stage to receive the prize.
Buckley said: “It has been an amazing year. Precise is from the same sire line as Gstaad, by Starspangledbanner. It is very special. Thank you to Aidan and his team at Ballydoyle for the amazing training performance – obviously Aidan and Annemarie [O’Brien] bred Precise too – and to Ana, their daughter, who manages their bloodstock entries. This is tremendous.”
Asfoora became the third Australian-bred horse to be presented with the Cartier Sprinter award following Black Caviar (2012) and Starspangledbanner (2010) thanks to her wins in the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes and Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp Longines.
Her trainer Henry Dwyer said: “It is great to be here. Thank you very much to Laurent for having us and to the whole team at Cartier, they’ve been most accommodating, as has the whole English racing team. We have been so welcomed wherever we’ve gone, it’s been amazing. We have had a great time of it. I think the great thing about the industry – Australia, England, wherever we are – is we’ve seen tonight that we’ve had Coolmore, Coolmore, Coolmore and Ben Sangster, Godolphin, Princess Zahra Aga Khan, and Hayaf [El-Fahkri] and his family from Euroa, Australia, have managed to breed a winner from a filly who was passing at the yearling sales for $30,000, and she’s come out and won three Group 1s in Europe. I think that’s just an amazing thing, that’s what gets people out of bed in the morning and gets people doing this.”
On what it means to be involved in this filly’s journey, Hayaf El-Fahkri, whose family bred and owns Asfoora under the Noor Elaine Farm banner, said: “It is a dream come true really. Not in my wildest dreams did I think that this was actually going to happen, so I need to congratulate the owners – my father and uncle – and to praise Henry Dwyer for all the work he has done, Oisin Murphy for his masterful rides and the staff at Noor Elaine Farm in Euroa, Australia, for all their efforts, it’s about teamwork.”
Oisin Murphy, who rode Asfoora to both her Group 1 wins this year, added: “She has a terrific temperament. It is very hard to bring a horse across the world to perform. Credit to her trainer and his staff, and her owners for their sporting decision to send her over to Europe to race. She really rewarded them this year, winning on Arc day, winning the Nunthorpe Stakes at York – those were two great days in the saddle. This is probably the highlight of the sporting year in terms of recognition, and that’s down to Cartier and everyone who makes the effort to come and support this evening – we are very grateful and it’s great to be part of it.”
Trawlerman provided the sole UK equine success of the evening, with the John & Thady Gosden-trained seven-year-old crowned Cartier Stayer of 2025 following a perfect European season that included a relentless display in the Gold Cup.
Hugh Anderson, Managing Director of Godolphin (UK and Dubai), accepted the award for owner/breeder Godolphin and said: “Trawlerman has matured with age. He started off really coming to our attention when he won the Ebor, which was a good few years ago, in an idiosyncratic Frankie Dettori ride – and he has got better and better. This year, to come from a prep race in Meydan to win a Group 3, Group 2 and two Group 1s, is absolutely fabulous. Huge credit to the Clarehaven operation, John and Thady. I think they train with such patience, they really know exactly what to do with him, and hopefully we will see the same again next year.”
Reflecting on the Gold Cup, he added: “It was a red hot day, we had some particularly special guests at Godolphin that day, and the King presented the prize – it was absolutely fabulous.
“Huge thanks must go to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed for his loyalty to Godolphin and to our sport. I must also congratulate Coolmore and Aidan O’Brien, because they’ve shown tonight what a fantastic operation they are. They fully deserve everything they’ve won so far this year, and we will start again at zero on 1 January!”