Calandagan is the new leader in the points standings for the Cartier Horse of the Year, with the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner clear of exceptional three-year-olds Field Of Gold and Whirl in the premier equine prize of the Cartier Racing Awards.
Established in 1991 to reward excellence in horseracing, the 35th Cartier Racing Awards will be presented at the Dorchester Hotel in London on the evening of Wednesday, November 19.
Calandagan (108 points) followed up his breakthrough top-level success in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud with a superb display in the midsummer highlight at Ascot, coming out on top in a thrilling battle with Kalpana (48).
Trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, Calandagan has opened up a significant lead over Prince Of Wales’s Stakes victor Ombudsman (76) in the Cartier Older Horse division. The four-year-old, who was homebred by the Aga Khan Studs, has the Japan Cup as his ultimate aim for the rest of the season and looks set to have one more start in Europe before heading out to Tokyo in November.
Field Of Gold (96) continues to head the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt standings despite his surprise defeat in the Qatar Sussex Stakes at last week’s Qatar Goodwood Festival. The son of Kingman was found to be lame after coming home fourth behind older duo Qirat (48) and Rosallion (56), and this season’s Emirates Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner Henri Matisse (68).
Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly leader Whirl (96) had already proven herself against older opposition when defeating Kalpana in the Paddy Power Pretty Polly Stakes. The Coolmore filly impressed again with a five-length success in the Qatar Nassau Stakes, which was run in attritional conditions after a thunderstorm hit Goodwood on Thursday.
Her closest rival in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly standings is another Coolmore-owned contender trained by Aidan O’Brien, Minnie Hauk (80), who became the 16th filly to complete the English/Irish Oaks double when comfortably scoring at the Curragh.
A strong Qatar Goodwood Festival for Coolmore and O’Brien also saw them enjoy a 1-2 in the opening day’s Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup as emerging force Scandinavia (40) denied Illinois (48). The duo are currently second and third in the Cartier Stayer category behind Trawlerman (56), who beat Illinois in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.
The Cartier Sprinter division remains wide open, with Time For Sandals (40) and Arizona Blaze (40), who were first and second in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot, tied at the top.
Time For Sandals emerged with credit when finishing third behind JM Jungle (16) and She’s Quality (24) in the King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood last week, while Arizona Blaze was a decisive winner of the Barberstown Castle Sapphire Stakes on Juddmonte Irish Oaks weekend.