'Pretty special' Calandagan romps home on rollercoaster day for French trainer Francis Graffard

He had never run in a race remotely like this, he was drawn out wide and his trainer had suffered disappointment with his other runners this week. But that did not stop Calandagan — or faze his backers.

The Aga Khan's three-year-old, who is trained by Francis Graffard, was backed from a morning 10-1 into 11-2 for the King Edward VII Stakes. And he won like a 2-11 shot. 

Resigned to coming from behind in the 14-runner contest, Stephane Pasquier got him motoring in the straight and his mount flew past the post fully six lengths clear.

Graffard had seen his French 1,000 Guineas winner Rouhiya finish last in the same colours earlier on the card and said: "Training racehorses is like a rollercoaster. I was so down after my filly finished tailed off in the Coronation Stakes and he has won easily. It's unbelievable. I'm very happy."

The trainer seemed not to have shared the confidence the market had in Calandagan. "He won two Group 3s but they were typical French races. He's not used to big fields like this.

"He had a wide draw, so it was hard to make a plan and we said we'd ride him for himself. He found himself at the back but he passed horses easily." 

Francis-Henri Graffard: winning trainer of CalandaganCredit: Patrick McCann

Pasquier added: "He needed to be nice from the gate, nice during the race and today it was perfect. The pace was fast enough to come from behind. When he’s like this, he's a fantastic horse. I didn’t do anything, I just asked him to do it by himself."

Graffard, whose success in the Coronation Stakes in 2019 with Watch Me was the last at the meeting for a French trainer, had also had Dolayli finish well held in Tuesday's Queen Anne Stakes.

"We had a tough week, so it's good to finish on a nice winner like him," he said.

The only downside is that Calandagan is not eligible for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as he was gelded after his first appearance at Deauville.

"He was very difficult, difficult to load, he jumped the jockey and he didn't want to try much, so we had no choice," the trainer said.

That may be a particular source of regret come the first Sunday in October. As James Doyle said after finishing a respectful distance away in second on Space Legend: "The winner’s pretty special, isn’t he?"

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