Kalpana joins the ranks of King George’s great mares

ASCOT – Kalpana entered distinguished company with victory in a stellar renewal of the £2 million (S$3.44 million) Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2,414m), becoming the first mare since Enable to capture Ascot’s midsummer championship at Royal Ascot on July 25.

Only eight fillies and mares had previously won the crowning jewel of the United Kingdom staying ranks.

Trained by Andrew Balding, Kalpana joined an illustrious line stretching from Aunt Edith in 1966 through Park Top (1969), Dahlia (1973 and 1974), Pawneese (1976), Time Charter (1983), Danedream (2012), Taghrooda (2014) and Enable (2017, 2019 and 2020).

Kalpana’s success also settled unfinished business.

Second to Calandagan twelve months earlier in the 2025 edition of the staying feature, the Study Of Man five-year-old returned to go one better, ending the two-year French hold established by Goliath in 2024 and extended by Calandagan the following summer.

A strong tempo, established by three of Ballydoyle’s four representatives – Action (Sean Levey), Lambourn (William Buick) and Minnie Hauk (Wayne Lordan) – allowed jockey Colin Keane to settle Kalpana in fourth through the early stages.

She continued to travel comfortably as those ahead began to come under pressure.

Once Kalpana ($37) was produced to take command 400m from home, she stayed on resolutely to withstand the Francis-Henri Graffard-trained Calandagan’s (Mickael Barzalona) familiar late challenge by 1½ lengths.

The Aidan O’Brien-trained Benvenuto Cellini (Ryan Moore) finished another half length away in third.

Victory denied Graffard the chance to join Noel Murless and Saeed bin Suroor as the only trainers to have won three consecutive editions.

Murless established that sequence with Aunt Edith, Busted and Royal Palace from 1966 to 1968, while bin Suroor repeated the feat through Swain in 1997 and 1998, and again with Daylami in 1999.

For Balding, however, the result carried a powerful sense of continuity.

It gave the Kingsclere trainer his first King George success, 55 years after his father Ian saddled Mill Reef to one of the defining performances in the race’s history in 1971, placing two generations of the family on its roll of honour.

Keane was also celebrating his first King George victory, while Kalpana provided owners Juddmonte with a fifth success in the race.

It was Dancing Brave who opened the operation’s account in 1986 before Enable added three further editions.

Keane revealed he had been confident with the mare before her eighth career win.

“We thought she was coming here with a big chance,” said the Irish jockey to Sky Sports Racing.

“Realistically, I thought that if she finished third to the Japanese horse, Masquerade Ball, and Calandagan, it would be a massive run. She just shows you how tough she is.

“I thought last year that she improved from run to run. She is such a big girl and does herself very well, but Andrew said she was about 10 kilos lighter today, so that was a good sign. Hopefully she can keep progressing now.

“It became a little tight in the home straight. I opted to go inside because I thought Wayne Lordan, on Minnie Hauk, would keep going for longer than he did, but that is the manner of her. She can quicken almost instantly and gets you out of trouble when you need her.

“I am just delighted for the filly. Although she had already won two Group 1 races, she probably deserved to have won a couple more, and she showed her true class today.

“I think it was one of the strongest renewals of the race, with horses coming from all over the world, so it is very special for her to win.

“As I have said all along, I am privileged to be riding in these colours and to receive opportunities like this.”

The victory was Kalpana’s third at Group 1 level, following consecutive successes in the Group 1 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes over the same course and distance in 2024 and 2025.

Balding also completed a Group-race double on the Ascot card following Moonrise’s earlier success in the Group 3 Princess Margaret Japan Cup Stakes (1,200m).

The two-year-old filly earned her first Group success and secured an automatic Breeders’ Cup place after her second success in three starts.

Breaking from stall two under Oisin Murphy, Moonrise ($28) initially raced keenly before settling behind the pace in the far-side group.

With the field spread across the track, the Churchill filly was produced to challenge inside the final furlong and responded generously to gain the advantage.

She showed resilience as Dee’s Funny Girl (Moore) finished strongly, but Moonrise resisted the late challenge by a neck. Velozee (Billy Lee) filled third place.

The contest forms part of the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, so Moonrise receives an automatic starting position – with entry fees paid – for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (1,600m).

The US$1 million (S$1.29 million) contest will be staged over one mile at Keeneland on Oct 30.

Should connections accept the invitation, the filly would be asked to race over an additional 400m and negotiate a bend for the first time.

But Balding prefers to take things one step at a time.

“She has a tendency to be exuberant in her racing style, but luckily there was plenty of pace on,” he said to ITV Racing.

“That was only the third start of her career and she is learning all the time, but she is a proper professional.

“She got a nice tow into it today, which I think helped, and she was strong at the end of the race as well, so I was very pleased.

“She had done some pretty good work before the (Listed) Windsor Castle (1,200m), so we were really hopeful of a big run, and she nearly did it (second to King Of Cloughan). I would be very happy with today’s performance.

“You are always fearful until they pass the line, but that was great. She is in the Group 2 Lowther Stakes and that would look to be the next logical step.

“I don’t know if we would do any travelling near the end of the year, as that is a long way away, and there are plenty of nice races close to home.”

Open to two-year-old fillies, the Lowther Stakes (1,200m) will be held at York on Aug 20. RACING AND SPORTS