Kalpana returns to form to retain Ascot title

Kalpana successfully defended her Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes title with a neat victory at Ascot for Andrew Balding.

A two-length winner last year, she was the 11-8 favourite to retain the trophy under Colin Keane in a field of 10 despite finishing only seventh in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe last time out.

She raced prominently and was always handily placed on an inside line, eventually pushing clear on the turn for home and prevailing comfortably by two and a half lengths from Estrange, with Quisisana a further three-quarters of a length back in third.

“Things haven’t quite gone how we wanted to this season, but that was a pretty good performance,” said Balding.

“I think there was a bit of pressure on today and it was a bit of a risk running her back quickly after the Arc, but maybe we’ve underdone her all year and she just seems to thrive on it.

“We had the full support of the Juddmonte team to come here today and when they are right behind you, which they invariably are, it makes life a lot easier.

“We thought she had an outstanding chance today and I thought Colin had her in the perfect position throughout and there were few anxious moments. I would say she was probably better than she was in the race last year and it was a strong performance.”

On the future, Balding added: “I’m not sure, anything is possible, but it will not be my decision.

“Of course I would love to keep her but there’s more things at play than me and Kalpana and she fits into a bigger jigsaw puzzle.

“This is a really good way for her to finish her season.”

Barry Mahon, European racing manager for Juddmonte, said: “It wasn’t an easy task turning her around so quickly after the Arc and she’s been a bridesmaid all year, so to get a win is a big thing.

“Today was the last roll of the dice for this season and we will sit down with the owners next week and see what they want to do moving forwards.

“We haven’t really thought about after today and after having two hard races in two weeks, going again feels like it could be tough. We just have to decide now if the owners would like to keep her in training or not.”

David O’Meara said of the second-placed horse, Estrange: “We kind of feared coming down here that the draw wouldn’t be helpful and we would have preferred maybe being out a box or two just so she could have a smoother run.

“Danny (Tudhope) had to force his way out which wasn’t ideal but she finished the race well and was gaining on Kalpana near the line, she’s a really good filly.

“It would be easy enough to say that if she had a smooth passage she could have been closer. Being drawn one here is never a good thing on the round track.

“I hope she stays in training, the owners are talking about it now. There’s some nice races for her, she’s only competed in two Group Ones and finished second in them both so I’m sure she’s got one in there. She’s got no miles on the clock and the only blip in her copybook is the Yarmouth race when it all came too soon.

“Running second to Minnie Hauk at York is no mean feat and today had she had a better draw, she could have run a touch better but take nothing away, we’ve been beaten by a good winner there. Danny said she was fine on the ground, it’s not summer good ground and there were no issues.”