Cartier Racing Awards
Cartier Racing Awards 2025
Wednesday 22nd October
 

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. 

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.

Cartier Racing Awards

Points earned in Pattern races up to and including Sunday, October 19, 2025.
 
Cartier Horse of the Year
156 Calandagan
148 Ombudsman
136 Delacroix
136 Minnie Hauk
104 Trawlerman
100 Fallen Angel
98 Rebel's Romance
96 Field Of Gold
96 Whirl
92 Lambourn
 
Cartier Older Horse
156 Calandagan
148 Ombudsman
100 Fallen Angel
84 Kalpana
84 Sosie
82 Rebel's Romance
72 Aventure
72 Rosallion
 
Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt
136 Delacroix
96 Field Of Gold
92 Lambourn
88 Scandinavia
74 Arizona Blaze
72 Maranoa Charlie
68 Daryz
68 Henri Matisse
68 Ruling Court
 
Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly
136 Minnie Hauk
96 Whirl
72 Zarigana
66 Gezora
62 Cercene
60 Barnavara
60 Desert Flower
44 Consent
 
Cartier Sprinter
72 Arizona Blaze
64 Asfoora
64 Lazzat
56 Big Mojo
40 Sajir
40 Time For Sandals
32 American Affair
32 Mgheera
32 No Half Measures
32 Powerful Glory
32 She's Quality
 
Cartier Stayer
104 Trawlerman
88 Scandinavia
52 Sweet William
48 Al Riffa
48 Illinois
40 Consent
38 Caballo de Mar
34 Candelari
34 Double Major
 
Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt
64 Gstaad
64 Puerto Rico
64 Zavateri
48 Wise Approach
40 Gewan
40 Power Blue
28 Coppull
24 Do Or Do Not
24 Nighttime
24 Samangan
 
Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly
80 True Love
72 Precise
64 Venetian Sun
40 Green Spirit
32 Beautify
32 Diamond Necklace
32 Royal Fixation
28 Green Sense