Colossal Calandagan towered above them all in 2025

When looking back on 2025, there is surely no debate – Calandagan was the star of the Flat season.

But back in June, when he was second in his fourth successive Group One, this time in Epsom’s Coronation Cup, questions were beginning to be asked about his resolution.

When trainer Francis-Henri Graffard decided to miss the Eclipse at Sandown for the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud closer to home, no one imagined it would be the first step towards creating history in November in the Japan Cup.

“Some may have been questioning him, but we always maintained full faith in the horse,” said Nemone Routh, racing manager for Calandagan’s owners, the Aga Khan Studs.

“He’d been to Meydan before Epsom and that was the first time Mickael (Barzalona) had ridden him since his debut, so he was under strict instructions to just let him find his stride. But that meant he was some way off the pace.

“After Epsom, Francis said he maybe hadn’t asked enough of him at home, but that day the ground was soft and Coolmore made it a test, the winner (Jan Brueghel) was a St Leger winner and he just got outstayed. He ran another good race, but was just found out in the closing stages.

“There was a little bit of talk about him always coming second, which did have a bit of an influence on the choice of his next race, going to Saint-Cloud instead of Sandown.

“Even though he’s a good traveller, we wanted him to have a race closer to home and a slightly easier task, but it turned out to be a hot race with Aventure, who went off near favourite for the Arc, and Goliath.”

The ploy worked a treat, however, with Calandagan winning his first Group One easily and hinting at what might be to come.

“That win seemed to give him confidence and was the turning point for the year. He showed his blistering turn of foot and getting his head in front in a Group One was great and gave us confidence to head to Ascot,” said Routh.

“Obviously we knew already he liked Ascot, his record there now is exceptional, but the King George looked a very good race.

“We were meeting Jan Brueghel again, there was Kalpana, who was favourite for the Arc at the time and also loves Ascot, and then Rebel’s Romance, who has been such a star for so long.

“They didn’t go very fast in the King George and given the majority of the races in France are run like that and knowing his turn of foot, we were pretty confident from a long way out.

“We took a view then to give him a mid-season break because if we ran in all the 10- and 12-furlong races through the summer he couldn’t go to a top international race at the end of the year, which was something we all wanted to do and we’d decided on the Japan Cup.

“That ruled out going to York for the International and Leopardstown for the Irish Champion Stakes, but meant he could go to Ascot (on British Champions Day) fresh before Japan.”

By now Ombudsman and Delacroix had emerged as the best 10-furlong performers and it would be over their favoured trip in the Champion Stakes at which Calandagan was to meet them.

“The one slight question mark we had going back to Ascot was the drop in trip, as he’d won his Group Ones over 12 furlongs,” said Routh. “We knew he was very well though, as he’d worked with Daryz just before he won the Arc.

“Unusually for Champions Day the ground was good, which helped us as he can quicken up so well on it, although he does handle it soft.

“I could see Ombudsman behind us and that calmed me down because I didn’t think he’d quicken up as well as us, I couldn’t imagine a horse with more acceleration than Calandagan and he put up a huge performance.”

Despite three consecutive career-bests, his biggest test awaited in Japan, taking on horses from a nation who had dominated at middle distances all over the world.

The three best horses from the home team all took minor honours, but none had an answer to Calandagan, who became the first European winner of the race for 20 years, setting a new course record in the process.

“It was 24 hours of travelling door to door and Francis said he’d never seen such rigorous preliminaries they all had to go through, so it just shows how unflappable he is,” said Routh.

“They went so fast and the old Calandagan might have been last but Mickael just kept him in touch and that is the beauty of the partnership, he doesn’t ask him too much but he knows you can’t give away that much in those races.

“Mickael tracked the favourite and they both picked up together. He had to be so brave. The top four all ran their race and it just shows how mentally tough he is now.

“It was an incredible training performance from Francis, he was the first top horse we got ready to run this year for Dubai and also the last. He’s home now, he’s having a break.”

Next year again looks like being a big one for the famous Aga Khan silks, with Routh adding: “Calandagan will have the entry for the Sheema Classic again, but we won’t decide for a while if he’s going to go when Francis gets him back in training.

“We’ve got Daryz to think about this year and he might be the one for the big European races, while we take Calandagan international.”