Kalpana not a certain Arc contender after Kempton defeat

Kalpana is not certain to run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe after suffering a surprise defeat at the hands of Giavellotto in the Unibet September Stakes at Kempton.

Andrew Balding’s charge had been vying for favouritism in next month’s ParisLongchamp feature after a campaign that had seen her place in three Group One contests, including when beaten just a length by Calandagan in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on her latest start.

Kalpana was dropped to Group Three company on the Kempton all-weather in search of a confidence-boosting victory and while the 1-2 favourite appeared to be travelling well coming into the final couple of furlongs, Giavellotto ultimately found plenty for pressure and came home a length-and-a-half winner.

Paddy Power pushed Kalpana out to 12-1 from 6-1 favourite for the Arc and while Balding expects the Juddmonte-owned filly to improve for the outing, a return to Ascot for Champions Day has now entered the equation.

Balding said: “It is disappointing not to win, but I think the horse that beat us is very good. As you can, hear she is having a proper blow and hopefully that will put her spot on for whatever we are doing.

“She had a couple of weeks easy, and she will come on for that. I felt like we had done enough work, but the trouble is we are not using grass gallops at the moment. The all-weather is much easier and it is harder to get work into horses like her.

“We didn’t want it to be a falsely-run race, and it wasn’t. They went a nice even pace, and she had every chance, but a good horse has beaten her, and she will come on for the run.

“She is in the Arc and the Fillies & Mares at Ascot, but it is really where the powers that be want to go.

“This was a prep, and that (Arc) was always the plan, but we will have to see how the field develops.”

Giavellotto (9-4) was having his first start since finishing third in the Coronation Cup at Epsom in June and just his second run of the year having contest the Sheema Classic at Meydan back in April.

His trainer Marco Botti said: “We didn’t run in the Princess of Wales’s at Newmarket as sadly his scope wasn’t right a few days beforehand. With these kind of horses, you don’t want to risk anything.

“He is still lightly-raced for an older horse and there is definitely still more mileage on the clock.

“Watching it I thought it was a bit different to how it was going to happen. I thought Kalpana would have raced in front of us.

“The plan was to follow her and see if we were good enough to beat her. Oisin thought the pace was even and not very strong, so he sat second.

“He idled a little bit in front. He just does enough. He is not a horse that would just quicken away.

“Oisin said when they turned into the straight and he was winding him up and going through the gears that he responded really well.

“He said every time the filly got to him, he found an extra gear. It was a great performance. We always knew he was a good horse. He just needs things to go right for him. I’m delighted with that.”

Giavellotto was cut to 33-1 from 66s for the Arc by Paddy Power but Botti fears the French ground will not suit and has a defence of his Hong Kong Vase title at Sha Tin in December as his top priority.

He added: “Sadly in Europe there wouldn’t be many options for him now. We have said soft ground is not for him.

“I don’t see much for him in those couple of months before Hong Kong and we don’t really want to jeopardise our chances for that. Wasting a run on soft ground wouldn’t be ideal.

“He has an entry in the Arc. I’m sure the owners will say we have beaten the favourite so why don’t we take our chance, but personally I think the ground will be too soft for him.

“I would only run him in it on good ground, but that is very unlikely to happen as Longchamp has often been soft ground in October. At that level he needs good ground.

“We will leave it closer to the time and see what the weather does.”