King Edward VII Stakes (Group 2)

THE King Edward VII Stakes looked wide open on paper, but the Group 2 contest billed as the Ascot Derby ended up as one-way traffic. The Francis-Henri Graffard-trained Calandagan (Stephane Pasquier) careered away to a hugely impressive six-length win over Space Legend (William Haggas/James Doyle), with Italian Derby runner-up Royal Supremacy (Andrew Balding/Oisin Murphy) third, almost eight lengths behind the winner.

Held up one from last in the early stages, as is the way he’s been ridden in previous races, Calandagan swung to the outside off the home turn as the field fanned out and it was soon clear that he was going to swamp his rivals for speed, his injection of pace turning the race from a lottery to a procession in a couple of seconds.

If the son of Gleneagles arrived under the radar, he wasn’t missed in the betting, with strong support seeing him start at 11/2 having been available at twice those odds in the morning. The fact that Calandagan is a gelding might be the reason why he wasn’t a household name before this romp as he is prevented from running in the French classics due to being gelded, and he had been impressive in winning both the Prix Noailles and the Prix Harcourt on his previous two starts this season.

Calandagan’s wins had come on soft ground, but there has been nothing but soft or heavy ground in France this spring, and anyone watching Calandagan’s impressive turn of foot in action wouldn’t have worried unduly about the quicker surface – quite the opposite if anything.

With races like the ‘Arc’ out of the question and a career as a stallion lost forever, it may be that Calandagan will emulate that other great gelding Cirrus Des Aigles, who won no fewer than 19 blacktype races in a long career, including the Coronation Cup at Epsom and the Champion Stakes at Ascot.

Given what an exciting performer Calandagan is, and with a style which will endear him to racing crowds, the prospect of him following a similar path could only be good news for the sport.