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Calandigan wins King George, Glorious Goodwood to have more top racing

Calandagan wins the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday, earning a "Win and You're In" bid to the Breeders' Cup Turf. Photo by Hattie Austin/ courtesy of Breeders' Cup July 28 (UPI) -- Royal Ascot rules racing springtime in England, but midsummer packs in some of the best of the year's action as the 3-year-olds start to test their elders and spots for big-ticket year-end races are on the block. The weekend's King George meeting at Ascot and this week's Glorious Goodwood are on the leading edge of that excitement. Here's a rundown, a look forward and a sideways glance at Germany and South Africa. England Calandagan chased down Kalpana in the final yards to land Saturday's Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot by 1 length with two-time Breeders' Cup Turf winner Rebel's Romance rallying to finish third after traffic issues. Coolmore's pair, Jan Brueghel and Continuous, led the way for most of the King George's 1 1/4 miles, but wilted when Kapana surged to the front midway down the straight. They finished next-last and last in the five-horse field. Kalpana, a 4-year-old Study of Man filly, with Oisin Murphy up, looked to have stolen a march on the field, but Mickael Barzalona had Calandagan wound up from the back of the pack and the Aga Khan Stud's homebred 4-year-old Gleneagles gelding got the job done. The tactics were a bit of a puzzler, as most thought Continuous was in the race to make a pace for Jan Brueghel, who had defeated Calandagan by 1/2 length in the Group 1 Coronation Cup using those tactics. Barzalona said he was surprised, too, to see jockey Ryan Moore put Jan Brueghel on the lead. "I didn't expect that one," Barzalona said. "But once I saw Continuous beside him and Rebel's Romance boxed in, I was happy where I was because I knew either William [Buick on Rebel's Romance] was going to make a gap or Oisin was going to have to go round. "I was just waiting to see what happened, and when I saw Oisin making the move, I just followed." The race was a "Win and You're In" for the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Trainer Francis Graffard wasn't talking California in his post-race comments. "He's in the Juddmonte International, so why not go there?" he added, referring to the Group 1 at York on Aug. 20. "I wouldn't mind coming back and then maybe going to Japan at the end of the season. But I have to discuss it with the Aga Khan team and Princess Zahra." Kalpana, despite the defeat, was lowered into the favorite's role by many bookmakers for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, perhaps thanks to her win on soft turf in last October's Group 1 British Champions Filly & Mare Turf. Calandagan came to Ascot off a victory in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Before that, he had four straight seconds, all in Group 1 races. Also Saturday at Ascot, Fitzella captured the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes, improving on a fourth-place finish in the Group 3 Albany at the Royal meeting; and Cheshire Dancer landed the Group 3 Valiant Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 mile. On Friday at Ascot, Time to Turn shot to the lead in the final furlong of the Pat Eddery Stakes for 2-year-olds and held off the late run of A Bit of Spirit to win by a head. The Godolphin homebred Dark Angel colt finished second in his first two starts, won his third on the Wolverhampton all-weather and was favorite in Friday's field. Looking ahead ... Glorious Goodwood kicks off Tuesday with the Group 1 Goodwood Cup, a 2-mile staying test with Coolmore's Illinois and Scandinavia the top early picks. Wathnan Racing fields French Master. Nine-year-old Dubai Future is held at long odds in the eight-horse field, but has shown continued ability with a win in the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup in April and a third (albeit beaten 13 lengths) in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. Trainer Saeed bin Suroor would like nothing more than to pick up his second top-level win in three days' time after winning Sunday in Munich. The highlight of the meeting arrives Wednesday in the Group 1 Visit Qatar Sussex Stakes. Field of Gold, romping winner of the Group 1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot in his last start, is the overwhelming favorite. He and Coolmore's Henri Matisse, second at Ascot, try their luck against older horses for the first time. Field of Gold, a Juddmonte homebred trained by John and Thady Gosden, shares the top spot in the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings with Ombudsman and Japanese star Forever Young. It's 3-year-olds against older rivals again Thursday in the Group 1 Qatar Nassau Stakes for fillies and mares. Pending declarations, Coolmore holds a strong hand with entries for Whirl, winner of the Group 1 Pretty Polly, and Bedtime Story, second in the Group 1 Prix de Diane or French Oaks. See the Fire, third behind Ombudsman in the Group 1 Prince of Wales's Stakes at the Royal meeting, also figures in this 1 1/4-mile test. Germany Tornado Alert racked up another German Group 1 win for Godolphin in Sunday's Grosser Dallmayr-Preis in Munich. Jockey Oisin Murphy kept the 3-year-old Too Darn Hot colt close enough to the pace throughout, easily took the lead turning for home and repulsed a late bid by the favorite, Wathnan Racing's Map of Stars, to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Lazio finished third, the best of the locals. Winning trainer Saeed bin Suroor, who won the event with Kutub in 2001 and Benbatl in 2018, picked up his first Group 1 win since October 2023. Neither of the top two features in the top ranks for upcoming Group 1 events, but Tornado Alert's odds were halved by some bookmakers for the Juddmonte International at York. Map of Stars' standing for the Arc took a tumble. South Africa Gladatorian turned the tables on Durban July winner The Real Prince in Saturday's Grade 1 HKJC Champions Day at Greyville, seeing off that rival by 1/2 length. The 5-year-old Vercingetorix gelding finished seventh in the July and third, behind Dave the King, in their previous