Calandagan taken out of York with Japan Cup his main aim

There will be no trip to York for Calandagan, with Francis-Henri Graffard’s star middle-distance performer enjoying a well-earned rest before all eyes turn to the defence of his Japan Cup crown later in the year.

The globetrotting star, who was crowned the world’s best racehorse for 2025, finished second to City Of Troy in the 2024 Juddmonte International Stakes and another visit to the Knavesmire was mentioned as a possibility after his brave second in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes last month.

However, five-year-old was among the scratchings for York’s 10-furlong showpiece at Tuesday’s latest entry stage, with the Aga Khan team confirming attentions have firmly shifted to another trip to Tokyo later in the year.

“He came out the King George fine, but we all felt he needed a bit of a break,” said Nemone Routh, French racing manager and director for owners the Aga Khan Studs.

“We didn’t think it was the right thing to do to go to York. He likes the track and always tries his hardest, but we just didn’t think it was fair to him to ask him to do that.

“He’ll get a little bit of a summer break with the idea of an international run which is more than likely going to be the Japan Cup.”

It was victory in the Champion Stakes that set Calandagan up perfectly for his Far East mission last year, but a defence of his British Champions Day crown and another outing at his beloved Ascot – and in a race which he was also second in 2024 – is no certainty this time around.

“We will see when we pick things up with him again in the autumn how quickly he comes back to himself, which to be fair to Calandagan he is a horse who gets fit quite quickly,” continued Routh on the possibility of a prep run before the Japan Cup.

“We’re conscious of the fact last year we got lucky with the Champion Stakes ground and it doesn’t normally fall that way.

“Now we’ve seen how he ran at Epsom, and while he clearly prefers Ascot to Epsom, if it came up heavy as it has done in the past I’m not sure we would do that to him as a prep for the Japan Cup.

“If he’s in good form and it is good ground again, then we could be tempted to run in the Champion Stakes again, but it is all ifs and buts.

“The Irish Champion Stakes will probably come a bit soon and doesn’t really fall right for him anyway in the schedule of what we are trying to do. If you are wanting to get to Japan, then it isn’t really a race that queues him up for that and it also means you can’t really have a break in the summer.”

Having relished the challenge when becoming the first French-trained Japan Cup winner since 1987 last year, the Calandagan team are not deterred by the prospect of returning without an autumn prep, as they bid to become just the third dual winner of the prestigious international contest and first to defend the title since Gentildonna went back-to-back in 2012 and 2013.

Routh said: “I think the Japan Cup is such an amazing race and a tough race, but it suited him last year and he liked the track.

“It’s a lot of travel and we saw how hard it was for the Japanese horses who came over for the King George that it’s a big trip and it really does take a certain type of horse to do it.

“You need the quality, but you also need one who can take that travel and we’re under no illusion that it’s going to be very hard again and as Francis has pointed out last year he went there as the best horse in the world, broke the track record but still only won by a short head.

“It’s a very hard task, but he did it last year. Other races that could come into play are the Breeders’ Cup or Hong Kong, but I think if you aim at the Japan Cup you have to make that your number one objective – you can’t run in it on the back of other international races if you want to give it your best shot.

“I doubt we’ll see him anywhere other than Tokyo, that is very much our thinking at the moment.”