Calandagan favourite to be crowned in Coronation Cup
Dreams of a first top-level success are inspiring Calandagan's raid on the Betfred Coronation Cup at Epsom.
No stranger to British soil, Francis-Henri Graffard's four-year-old won the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot last term, but then had to settle for second when returning for top-table action in the Juddmonte International and then in the season-ending Champion Stakes.
"We would really love a first Group One with him and that's what we would like to do this year, he deserves to win a Group One and we're hoping it will be on Friday," said Nemone Routh, racing manager for owners the Aga Khan Studs.
"I suppose the only real doubt is handling the track and he's probably never run on anything like Epsom before.
"He's a very balanced horse and we imagine he is going to be OK but you never know until they get there and run. We are confident he is going to run well, he always runs well."
Calandagan was again runner-up at the highest level when returning to action in Dubai in April, with this race immediately earmarked for the gelding's next outing, a ploy the owners almost pulled off with Meydan scorer Dolniya in 2015 when going down narrowly to Pether's Moon at Epsom.
"We were happy with his run in the Sheema Classic, he got a little bit far back but that's because he was drawn on the inside and he's not a horse with a huge amount of early speed," continued Routh.
"He finished the race well and took the race well, he's very straightforward and we've been happy with his preparation.
"We won the Sheema Classic with Dolniya and then came to this race and it gives them enough time to get over the trip to Dubai as you're winding them up quite early in the season to run in a Group One, which is quite a big ask for a horse coming out of winter.
"The gap gives them enough time to get over that and then run well and Francis had always earmarked this race for after Dubai. This has been the plan for a while and we hope he's in great form."
Aidan O'Brien will saddle a pair of St Leger heroes Jan Brueghel (above) in Continuous as he looks for back-to-back Coronation Cup victories following Luxembourg's success 12 months ago.
O'Brien explained how Jan Brueghel was a late substitution into the race following a shuffling of the Ballydoyle pack, but expects him to improve for his reappearance second in the Alleged Stakes.
"Everyone was standing in line behind Kyprios and when Kyprios was retired we had to find a Gold Cup horse and it was between him and Illinois," said O'Brien.
"We just felt we could give Illinois the first go at it as he won at Chester and his preparation was going to fit into the Gold Cup, when that happened Jan Brueghel could take Illinois' position in the Coronation."
Of Jan Brueghel, he added: "He was second to one of Joseph's (O'Brien) the first day over a mile and a quarter and he will definitely be much happier going a mile and a half.
"I'm never surprised when they get beat. Obviously he was a Leger winning starting back over a mile and a quarter, so he was always going to lack race sharpness and fitness at that time of the year.
"Joseph's horse beat him nicely on the day, but we thought it did our horse good and he learnt a lot and he came out of the race well."
Giavellotto ended a winter of globetrotting by finishing fifth in the same Meydan event as Calandagan and now makes his UK return fresh from his trainer Marco Botti enjoying Italian Derby glory in his homeland.
Botti said: "He's in good form and with Epsom you never know whether they'll handle the track or not, but he ran at Goodwood and handled the undulations there and it's not a big field, so fingers crossed he'll handle it.
"He's proven now that over a mile and a half he's quite effective. It's not an easy race, but he deserves to be there."
Ralph Beckett's Irish Oaks heroine You Got To Me will make her first appearance in the colours of Amo Racing, while Andrew Balding's Bellum Justum and the Charlie Appleby-trained Ancient Wisdom finished seventh and eighth respectively in the Derby last year and have banked some smart form since.
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