Calandagan has regained a narrow lead over Ombudsman in the race to be crowned the Cartier Horse of the Year after the duo fought out a thrilling finish to the QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.
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.
Members of the public play a crucial role in deciding the winners of European racing’s premier awards, with their votes making up 35% of the final total for each horse. Votes are combined with points earned in Pattern races (30%) and the opinions of a panel of racing journalists/handicappers (35%) to determine the recipients for each of the eight equine awards.
Horseracing fans will be able to choose their champions of 2025 when the voting opens at noon on Wednesday, November 5. Full details of how to vote, together with the lists of horses eligible for each category, will be announced on the same day.
Beaten half a length in the 2024 QIPCO Champion Stakes, Calandagan returned to Ascot having already won the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at the course in July. The four-year-old unleashed a powerful turn of foot to beat Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and Juddmonte International victor Ombudsman by two and a quarter lengths in the feature race of QIPCO British Champions Day.
Calandagan, homebred by the Aga Khan’s Studs and trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, has accrued 156 points in Pattern races this season, providing the son of Gleneagles with a slender advantage over Ombudsman (148 points) in both the Cartier Horse of the Year and Cartier Older Horse categories.
His victory continues a remarkable year for Graffard, who has sent out 12 G1winners so far in 2025 including Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt hopeful Daryz (68), who wore the same Aga Khan Studs colours to glory in the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe earlier in the month.
A sensational QIPCO British Champions Day also saw Kalpana (84) enhance her Cartier Older Horse claims with a decisive victory over Estrange (56) in the QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes.
Successful in the same race in 2024, the Juddmonte filly was posting her first win of this year following several strong performances in defeat, including taking second behind Calandagan in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Trawlerman (104) maintained his perfect season in Europe as he comfortably denied Sweet William (52) in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup. The Godolphin seven-year-old was adding to his victories in the Star Sports Henry II Stakes, Gold Cup and Weatherbys Lonsdale Cup, a sequence that has translated into a healthy lead in the Cartier Stayer division.
Two surprising results on the card included Cicero’s Gift (56) scoring in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Sponsored By QIPCO). Sent off at odds of 100/1, the Charlie Hills-trained five-year-old defeated a top-class field that included leading Cartier Older Horse contenders Fallen Angel (100) and Rosallion (72) as well as Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt aspirant Field Of Gold (96).
Powerful Glory (32) became the longest-priced G1 winner since the Pattern was introduced in 1971 as the 200/1 outsider denied Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes victor Lazzat (64) by a neck in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint. Both horses hold chances in a wide-open Cartier Sprinter division currently headed by Arizona Blaze (72), with Asfoora (64) the only sprinter to win more than one top-level contest in Europe this year.
Gstaad has joined Puerto Rico and Zavateri at the top of the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt standings on 64 points. Winner of the Coventry Stakes for Aidan O’Brien in June, the Coolmore-owned colt has filled the runner-up spot in three of Europe’s top juvenile races, including finding Gewan (40) three-quarters of a length too strong in the Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket’s Dubai Future Champions Festival.
Coolmore and O’Brien also feature at the head of the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly category, with Precise (72) moving up to second behind stablemate True Love (80) following a commanding win in the bet365 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket.