Calandagan Eyes King George Repeat Over Masquerade Ball
A Rematch Forged In Tokyo
Calandagan, the Aga Khan Studs-owned gelding trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, returns to Ascot to defend his crown in the Gr.1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on 25 July 2026. He meets Masquerade Ball, raced by Shadai Race Horse Co Ltd for trainer Takahisa Tezuka, in a rematch of last November’s Gr.1 Japan cup, where he defeated Masquerade Ball by a head.
Calandagan's record in the race stands at one win from one run, delivered in his King George victory 12 months ago before a four-race sweep of Group One prizes; Masquerade Ball has never previously started at Ascot. The field numbers 10 for a race Ascot has confirmed will be worth £2,500,000 (US$3.4 million) from 2027, up from this year's record £2,000,000 (US$2.7 million).
The renewal brings together eight Group One winners from four countries. Aidan O'Brien saddles four of the 10 runners in pursuit of a fifth King George success, while both of last year's principal placegetters return: Goliath, Graffard's second string and the 2024 winner, arrives after a luckless third in the Gr.2 Hardwicke Stakes, and Kalpana lines up again for Andrew Balding and Juddmonte off a narrow defeat in the same race at Royal Ascot.
The Gr.1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is run over 1m4f (1m3f211y) on turf at Ascot, with the going good to firm and no rain forecast before Saturday's meeting. A field of 10 is confirmed for the £2,000,000 (US$2.7 million) prize, of which the winner collects £1,134,200 (US$1,525,300). Calandagan, a 5YO gelding trained by Francis-Henri Graffard for Aga Khan Studs, is partnered by Mickael Barzalona; Masquerade Ball, a 4YO colt trained by Takahisa Tezuka for Shadai Race Horse Co Ltd, had yet to be assigned a jockey at the confirmation stage. The race is due off at 3:35pm BST (6:35pm GST).
Graffard's team have plotted a deliberate route back to Ascot. "The King George has always been Calandagan's main objective this summer," said Nemone Routh, racing manager for Aga Khan Studs. "We toyed with the idea of not going to Saint-Cloud because we did not want to compromise his chances for the King George, but he came right just before that race and we felt we needed to know where we were with him after Epsom." Routh added that the gelding has thrived since that Gr.1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud success, his sixth career Group One.
Masquerade Ball arrives with his sole defeat at the top level this year a narrow one, in April's Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong, where he chased home Romantic Warrior, the Hong Kong-trained star who has also contested The Dubai World Cup Carnival. "He's the best horse I've trained and I'm very proud of him," Tezuka said. "After the Japan Cup, he showed some fatigue and was a bit exhausted, but after racing in Hong Kong he looked like he could have raced again. I've a feeling that Masquerade Ball is still hiding another gear. He's won a lot of good races but he hasn't reached his ceiling yet, and that's what makes him special." The colt has been stabled at James Horton's Newmarket yard since his journey from Japan, with owner Teruya Yoshida said to have long targeted the race.
Tezuka, who turned 61 the year Masquerade Ball took the Gr.1 Tenno Sho as a raw 3YO, traces his own method to his father Yoshihiko, a National Association of Racecourses trainer who died shortly after that victory. "He always told me patience is important when dealing with horses," Tezuka said. "Even if I thought I understood, I realised once I started my own stable how difficult it is." Of the head-defeat by Calandagan in the Japan Cup, he added: "Calandagan was strong, as expected, but my horse is only three years old. I was disappointed that he lost, but I think he did a great job."
Four Shots For Ballydoyle
Aidan O'Brien fields four runners in search of a fifth King George win, a feat last achieved with Highland Reel a decade ago. Benvenuto Cellini, unbeaten since landing the Gr.1 Irish Derby last time out, leads the raid as he bids to become the first 3YO winner of the race since Adayar in 2021. "We think he's a very high-quality, classy horse on fast ground," O'Brien said. "He's probably a bit quicker than Galileo was, but he moves like him and we think he's brave like he was too."
Stablemate Minnie Hauk, second in the Gr.1 Prince of Wales's Stakes last time, steps back up in trip alongside Lambourn, last season's Gr.1 Derby and Irish Derby winner. "We ran her in the Prince of Wales's Stakes with a view to coming back for the King George, and we thought that was probably her best run ever," O'Brien said of Minnie Hauk. "The extra couple of furlongs should really suit her."
Kalpana, beaten a length by Calandagan when runner-up 12 months ago, returns for Andrew Balding and Juddmonte in ruder health, connections believe, after a winning return at Newbury and a tremendous defeat behind Giavellotto in the Gr.2 Hardwicke Stakes. "She's a very good horse on her day and loves Ascot, she's not put in a bad turn there yet, so hopefully that will continue," Balding said. "I think she's a little bit fitter than she was last year and we were always sort of struggling to get weight off her last year. This year she has come to hand and stayed in a good place." Wurttemberg completes the Japanese challenge for trainer Hiroshi Miyamoto and owner Teruya Yoshida, stepping up from a nose-second finish in the Gr.1 Tenno Sho earlier this season.
George Scott's Bay City Roller, a runaway winner of the Gr.1 Coronation Cup at Epsom, provides the sole domestic hand outside the Graffard and O'Brien camps. Action, O'Brien's fourth string, has not won since his maiden success, with Lambourn and Action both expected to ensure a strong pace that suits the field's closers.
Ascot Chases Parity With The Arc
Ascot's finances underpin the ambition. Nick Smith, the track's director of racing and public affairs, said the race carries significant momentum heading into the renewal, with confirmation that prize money will rise to £2,500,000 (US$3.4 million) from 2027 continuing a run of investment that has already lifted this year's edition to a record £2,000,000 (US$2.7 million). "The last few renewals have been good, but this one is a generational King George," Smith said. "It has the best of the Classic generation against the very best of the older horses. And in this case, the very best of Japan. This is the platform we need to promote the race as a £2.5 million race next year."
The King George has repeatedly fed into the following spring's Gr.1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan, a pattern Calandagan's own record underlines: he was beaten only into second by Japan's Danon Decile in that race before winning it outright the following year. International interest has followed suit, with Dubai Media and Abu Dhabi Media among 20 broadcasters across 120 territories showing Saturday's card, more than three times the reach secured in 2021.
Should Calandagan add a second King George to his collection, he would move level with Brigadier Gerard as one of only two horses to complete the King George and Gr.1 Champion Stakes double in the same season, a feat he achieved in 2025, while Graffard would become the first trainer this century to win the race in three straight years following Goliath's success in 2024. A crowd of around 20,000 is expected at Ascot for the renewal.
Gr.1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes
? 1 Calandagan (T: F-H Graffard / J: Mickael Barzalona)
? 4 Masquerade Ball (T: Takahisa Tezuka / J: Christophe-Patrice Lemaire)
? 9 Benvenuto Cellini (T: A P O'Brien / J: Ryan Moore)
? 7 Minnie Hauk (T: A P O'Brien / J: Wayne Lordan)
? 6 Kalpana (T: Andrew Balding / J: Colin Keane)
? 2 Goliath (T: F-H Graffard / J: Christophe Soumillon)
? 5 Wurttemberg (T: Hiroshi Miyamoto / J: Oisin Murphy)
? 3 Lambourn (T: A P O'Brien / J: William Buick)
? 8 Action (T: A P O'Brien / J: Sean Levey)