Calandagan heads opposition to Derby winner City Of Troy in record field for Juddmonte International Stakes

Francis Graffard hopes to plunder his second QIPCO British Champions Series middle-distance prize of the summer when his Royal Ascot winner Calandagan takes on Derby winner City Of Troy in a record field of 13 for the Juddmonte International Stakes.

Just 25 days on from stable-companion Goliath’s spectacular demolition job of what looked a thoroughly competitive field for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes, the fast-rising French trainer is back again with a far more obvious chance in the form of a fellow gelding. Calandagan was one of Royal Ascot’s most impressive winners when romping home six lengths clear in the King Edward VII Stakes.

That was a Group 2 however, and this is a far deeper race. However, Calandagan made such an impression that few will be surprised if he can follow in the footsteps of King Of Steel, Pyledriver and Alenquer, who sit amongst the recent winners of the King Edward VII who went on to enjoy Group 1 success later that season.

I think York will suit him as it’s a big, galloping track with a long straight

Graffard, who last week welcomed the 17 individuals belonging to Calandagan’s owner the Aga Khan that were formerly with Jean-Claude Rouget, is looking forward to seeing the son of Gleaneagles step up in grade and said: “He’s in very good form. We gave him time after his win at Ascot and he’s back to his best form and ready to take his chance. He’s ready for the next level and we’ll see where we stand”.

“The opposition is very strong, but I think York will suit him as it’s a big, galloping track with a long straight compared to somewhere like Deauville.”

Calandagan, who is already among the long-term favourites for the QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot in October, was gelded on behaviour grounds after his first start but the benefits were immediate. He won his next race by 10 lengths and he has continued to go from strength, winning two historic Longchamp Group 3s on his way to Royal Ascot.

Graffard explained: “He was very difficult as a two-year-old and we were struggling to get the best out of him, so we had no choice, but he’s a completely different horse now.”

If successful Calandagan will be a second winner of the race for the Aga Khan following Shardari in 1986. The colours are seen all too infrequently here these days, notwithstanding Ezeliya’s Oaks win at the end of May, but they were memorably carried by Kalanisi against Giant’s Causeway in what was arguably best ever finish to the Juddmonte International 24 years ago.

Troy to continue Aidan O Brien’s Middle-Distance Dominance?

City Of Troy was less impressive than expected when following up his Derby defeat of Ambiente Friendly with a one-length defeat of Al Riffa in Sandown’s Coral-Eclipse, but that race was run on ground that suited neither the winner nor third-placed Ghostwriter. 

The Eclipse form was franked when the runner-up won a Group 1 in Germany next time, and City Of Troy has been odds on for weeks to provide Aidan O’Brien with a seventh winner of the Juddmonte International, which would be an outright record. The only Derby winner he has run here before was Australia, who completed the double in 2014.

O’Brien was adamant after the Eclipse that the ground was to blame for the underwhelming Sandown success, saying: “City Of Troy is a beautiful, good-ground horse and a real fast-ground mover so he’s won despite the ground. It was proper soft ground, softer than when he won the Dewhurst last season.” 

Havlin hopes drop in trip will spark improvement for Ambiente Friendly

Wednesday’s going should suit much better and the stable’s second runner Hans Andersen will presumably ensure a solid pace. He is plainly the one to beat, but that’s not to say he is unbeatable and jockey Rab Havlin quietly fancies his chances on the James Fanshawe-trained Ambiente Friendly, for whom the drop back in distance looks a major plus despite being placed in two Derbys.

Havlin said: “If you stopped both Derbys at the two-furlong marker he’s probably the only one still on the bridle, so you would have to think that dropping back in trip will help. It looks like being the race of the season so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Ambiente Friendly has two and three quarter lengths to make up on City Of Troy on the Epsom form, but Havlin feels that’s not insurmountable. He said: “I’d like to hope that he can reverse form. At the two pole at Epsom I think most people would have been thinking he was the winner, and he’s mentally growing up all of the time. 

“He’s the type of horse who you don’t have to squeeze off the bridle to get him to move up through the gears. He’s a real strong traveller with a very high cruising speed, and he goes up through the gears on the bridle. I think the slick track and strong pace at York will play to his strengths, and a big field is no problem, as he’s not lazy. If a gap appears he’s one that can instantaneously fill it, because he travels so well.”

Bluestocking a bolt out of the blue for Beckett?

Ralph Beckett had this race and Thursday’s Yorkshire Oaks to choose between for his Pretty Polly Stakes winner and King George runner-up Bluestocking, who won the Group 2 Middleton Stakes by six lengths over the course and distance in May, and he is happy with the decision to go for this shorter race.

He said: “It wasn’t really a difficult decision. The owners [sponsors Juddmonte] were keen and I didn’t have a problem with it. There’s a drop of rain forecast in the next 48 hours and it all made sense.

“She was good over a mile and a quarter at the Curragh, so there are no concerns there, and she has good course and distance form before that. She’s got a little bit to find but not a lot, and she was only 20-1 over the weekend because of the doubt about her running. We are looking forward to it.”

Alflaila gives Shadwell strong chance to register record three in a row

Shadwell Estates have won the last two Juddmontes with Baaeed and Mostahdaf and they have another live chance here with the Owen Burrows-trained Alflaila, who made a pleasing return to action when fourth in Royal Ascot’s Prince Of Wales’s Stakes before beating King’s Gambit in a muddling four-runner SkyBet York Stakes, a Group 2 run over the same course and distance as Wednesday’s race. 

At Ascot he was two places behind the French challenger Zarakem, who was running the race of his life, but he had had Royal Rhyme behind in both races.

Marquand hopeful Maljoom well placed to make more progress in International

Maljoom, blinkered for the first time when a running-on second to Notable Speech in Goodwood’s Qatar Sussex Stakes, steps up to a new trip which his trainer William Haggas hopes he will relish.

Jockey Tom Marquand agrees and said: “It was a massive run at Goodwood, where he was second to a Guineas winner and an exceptional horse, and everyone was in agreement afterwards that the step up to a mile and a quarter would help him and was the next logical step. From a rider’s perspective the blinkers he wore for the first time at Goodwood just take away that few strides of lag before he gets to it all.”

Strong Japanese and domestic challenge rounds off field of 13

Last year’s Japanese St Leger winner Durezza, who has been lodging for the last fortnight or so in Newmarket with Charlie Fellowes, is an intriguing outsider. The Tomohito Ozeke-trained four-year-old bids to go a place better here than his compatriot Zenno Rob Roy, the former Japan Cup winner who was beaten a neck by Electrocutionist in 2005, and if successful he would be just his nation’s third UK Group 1 winner following Agnes World in the 2000 July Cup and Deirdre in the 2019 Nassau Stakes.

The field is completed by Docklands, who is stepping up from a mile after chasing home Charyn in Royal Ascot’s Queen Anne Stakes, and Israr, who is taking a big step up in class after winning the Listed Wolferton Stakes at the same meeting.