QIPCO Champion Stakes
Group 1, Ascot 16:05
£1,300,000 guaranteed,
3yo plus,
1m 1f 212y, Class 1   
Saturday 18th October 2025

BetPlay

1 Calandagan 15/8
2 Ombudsman 13/8F
3 Almaqam 28/1
11 ran Distances: 2¼l, 1¾l, nse
Time: 2m 3.19s (fast by 1.21s)

In the crisp October air of Ascot, the QIPCO Champion Stakes once again delivered its annual test of greatness — and this time it was Calandagan who rose above them all.

A year on from heartbreak in the same race, the 15/8 shot for Francis-Henri Graffard and the Aga Khan Studs found perfect redemption, sweeping past Ombudsman inside the final furlong to win by two and a quarter lengths — a performance of power, poise, and patient timing that lit up the straight.

Held up well off a strong early tempo, Mickaël Barzalona played the waiting game to perfection. Turning for home, the leading pair still had half the field to pass — but as the tempo lifted, so did Calandagan’s stride. When he found daylight, the response was immediate and emphatic.

Ombudsman, the highest-rated horse in the world, came calling as the two great rivals drew alongside each other approaching the furlong marker. For a brief, breath-holding moment they matched strides — but only one of them had something left to give. Almaqam, who had lowered Ombudsman’s colours at Sandown earlier in the year, stayed on best of the rest to edge Delacroix for third.

It was the second top-flight success of the year at Ascot for Calandagan, who had already dazzled in July’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and his victory placed him in distinguished company — the fourth French-trained winner of this great race since its move to Ascot, following Cirrus des Aigles, Almanzor, and Sealiway.

For Graffard, it was a day of joy, relief, and quiet vindication:

“Calandagan is a fantastic horse. The way he was working coming into this race was just incredible. He loves this track, and we know him very well. When he took his stride in the straight, it was just so beautiful to watch. Ombudsman was trying to challenge him, but Calandagan is a very good horse.

“I kept him fresh. We haven’t been very greedy with him by trying to run him too much – and the horse gives back to us now. He is a real star. We love horse racing and today was a beautiful horse race to watch.

“I think Calandagan is a real champion. Work is so easy for him, but he needs to work. I was quite far from the Champion Stakes, but I had to put him in a gallop with Daryz before Arc weekend because I needed him to be fitter for today. He was looking at Daryz like this [glances to the side and smiles] ‘come with me, I’ll show you how it works’. It was unbelievable but looking back now it was a gallop with an Arc winner and a Champion Stakes winner.”

The trainer’s composure couldn’t quite hide the strain of expectation:

“He is maturing and strengthening. Before it was hard to put him in the stalls, now it is not a problem. Everything is going the right way. I was very stressed before the race, because I was expecting more tactics and it was difficult to read the racing from the beginning of the afternoon, so I was very stressed about that, but it worked out well and it’s easier when you have a champion.”

Asked about the prospect of meeting his other star, Daryz, Graffard smiled:

“No, not really. There is also a business side of horse racing and a horse like Daryz is very important for the Aga Khan family. For me it’s important to travel and to be seen that we can be competitive all over the world, so I’m glad there are other options for Calandagan – he can be a famous horse. I don’t know where we are going to go next. I was thinking the Japan Cup but that’s a tough race to win, so we will talk to Princess Zahra and see what she wants to do.”

The winning jockey Barzalona was equally effusive — and visibly moved:

“Calandagan was a bit far back early on, and we were on different ground today, but when he found his action, he got ready to go. I could feel Ombudsman coming to me but I was, fortunately, much quicker than him. I think Calandagan is a very good horse and he deserves this.

“I haven’t really been able to understand the power of these [Aga Khan] colours. Someone said they are followed by everyone and I think that is true because there is such joy when they see these colours go across the line. I am very proud to be part of the team.”

There was quiet satisfaction, too, from Princess Zahra Aga Khan, whose patience with her star was richly rewarded:

“Calandagan is a very good horse and really coming into his own now. As the jockey said, once he had his space, he was unstoppable. It was great to see. We can keep on racing him, within reason. There is always a risk within that and we want to be careful, but he can go international.”

Defeat for Ombudsman came without disgrace. Co-trainer John Gosden was quick to acknowledge both the effort and the context:

“Ombudsman has run a wonderful race. He did get slightly shuffled back to last and he has tried to come from last. Take nothing away from the winner, and it was a fabulous race between two very good horses. They quickened up well – we have come from last and Calandagan has come from back there, although not quite as far back.

“It is a great win for Princess Zahra and I’m thrilled for them. There were no hiding places, the pacemakers set a proper pace and our pacemaker was only collared with a furlong and a half to go. Full marks to the winner. We were coming from behind him and that was tough from last.”

And, ever the perfectionist, Gosden added a word on his Queen Elizabeth II Stakes runner:

“With Field of Gold, it was very much on the wing of the field with that high draw, which I didn’t much like. That played a little bit against him but he has run a lovely race. He is simply short of match practice – he hasn’t run since the end of July and was just in need of the race in truth.

“I wouldn’t think we would necessarily want to be going running round two bends at Del Mar. You can see he’s a big, long-striding horse. He has been brilliant in two races this season and then it all unravelled and went pear-shaped at Goodwood, but he’s run a solid race here. I think if we could have squeezed a race in that would have been good, but of course after Goodwood we have had to wait until we had him just how we wanted him. There’s no decision on next season yet, we’ll just have to wait and see what everyone would like to do.”

William Buick, ever gracious in defeat, reflected on Ombudsman’s season of excellence:

“Ombudsman has had some season and ran a super race. We probably had a slightly awkward draw. We had a very good pace to run at and there was Delacroix, Calandagan and myself keeping tabs on each other.

“The pace was solid throughout and it was always going to be between myself and Calandagan. I took the race to him and, in the last furlong, he just pulled away. His stamina probably kicked in, being a King George winner, but I’m very proud of Ombudsman – he ran a super race and he’s a high-class horse. He started pretty early, he won the Prince Of Wales’s here in June and here we are in October, so he’s had a long season.”

There was pride, too, from Ed Walker, whose Almaqam kept pace with giants:

“Very, very proud of him. The toughest Group One for decades. They’re all tough, but everyone turned up for that. To be fair, I would have taken third or fourth beforehand. You come here to win, you want to win, but Kieran [Shoemark] gave him an absolute peach of a ride. We had a good draw, he did everything right, the horse did us proud, he battled all the way to the line and was beaten by two exceptional horses. He will stay in training.”

And finally, a word from Christophe Soumillon, whose Delacroix had to give best to better on the day:

“We had a great race. The winner and the second were just behind us the whole way. The pace was on. He never really travelled like he did last time, especially when I came in the last turn. I tried to take him out a bit to make him sprint, but he never really reacted like he did last time. I don’t know if it’s the ground. We always want to fight for the win in these kinds of races, but he couldn’t do it today.”

As the crowd rose to applaud, Calandagan returned to a rapturous reception — a horse reborn, a champion restored.

Qipco Champion Stakes
(British Champions Middle Distance) (Group 1)
£1,300,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m 1f 212y, Class 1
11 ran
Going: Good

POS. (DRAW) FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (7)    Calandagan 4 9-7 F-H Graffard Mickael Barzalona 15/8
2 (9) 2¼ Ombudsman 4 9-7 John & Thady Gosden William Buick 13/8F
3 (1) 1¾ Almaqam 4 9-7 Ed Walker Kieran Shoemark 28/1
4 (4) nse Delacroix 3 9-3 A P O'Brien Christophe Soumillon 11/2
5 (5) 3 First Look 4 9-7 A Fabre James Doyle 33/1
6 (2) 1½ Fox Legacy 4 9-7 Andrew Balding P J McDonald 28/1
7 (11) 1¼ Devil's Advocate 3 9-3 John & Thady Gosden Robert Havlin 66/1
8 (10) hd Economics 4 9-7 William Haggas Tom Marquand 12/1
9 (6) 3½ Almeric 3 9-3 Andrew Balding Oisin Murphy 18/1
10 (3) 5½ Prague 5 9-7 Dylan Cunha Benoit De La Sayette 80/1
11 (8) 1 Mount Kilimanjaro 3 9-3 A P O'Brien Wayne Lordan 50/1