Calandagan

Riding with Mickael Barzalona

For his 2025 season, Calandagan was no longer jockeyed by Stéphane Pasquier, and was instead by ridden by Mickael Barzalona who took over as the No. 1 jockey for Aga Khan.^[22] Their first race together was at the Dubai Sheema Classic on April 5th, 2025. Calandagan was slow to start, and was mired in traffic for much of the race. He attempted a late surge to take the lead, but it was not enough to take the lead from Danon Decile who had started his kick earlier, as Calandagan placed second in a 1+1⁄4 length loss. After the race, Graffard stated, "He was slow out of the stalls and he takes so much time to get into his rhythm", adding, "It's a very good run and Mickael will know him more for the future, too."^[23]

In his next race, the Coronation Cup at Ascot, it was only Calandagan and Jan Brueghel challenging for first. In the final straight, Calandagan put forth a valiant effort to take the lead, but was unable to maintain this lead against Jan Brueghel. Despite being faster than Jan Brueghel in the final 3 furlongs, Calandagan was not able to reach his full potential due to Ascot's challenging uphill climb to the finish. Jan Brueghel won the race with a final time of 2:36.13, with Calandagan a half length behind. Graffard commented on the race, "I don't have any excuses. The horse had the perfect run and Mickael gave him a ride with plenty of thought.", with Barzalona adding, "I think I hit the front 100 yards before the line and he kind of just stayed on and got a bit tired going uphill. The O'Brien horse was just a little bit stronger today."^[24]

A streak of G1 victories

Having placed 2nd in four consecutive G1 races, Calandagan's team was eager to get their first group 1 victory. His next opportunity came just a couple of weeks later at the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud with a field of 5. Calandagan remained in 4th position until he made his move around the 400m mark. There was a brief battle for first between Calandagan and Aventure, but Calandagan pulled away in the final 100m of the race to win by 3+1⁄2 lengths in his first G1 victory. Graffard was full of praise after Calandagan's monumental victory, saying "He's never run a bad race and he's either been beaten by a champion or circumstances. Today everything went his way and we saw how good he could be."^[25][26]

After his success in Saint-Cloud, Calandagan's next race was set to be the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, with Graffard aiming to achieve back-to-back wins in the race. The race was set to be relatively straightforward, with the 40-1 longshot Continuous designated to be the pacemaker for his stablemate Jan Brueghel, but the team behind both horses had other plans. Instead of leading the race, Continuous was held back to stay should-to-shoulder with Jan Brueghel forcing the other horses to navigate around the two. Kalpana was the first to work their way around, with Calandagan following shortly after. Similarly to his Coronation Cup race, Calandagan found himself trying to chase the leader, Kalpana. However, this time Calandagan was able to catch up with Kalpana and take the lead to win by a length. When asked about the change in tactics, Graffard responded, "What happened in the race came as a surprise... Aidan and his team put a lot of work into the tactics and it's always interesting, but Calandagan is an easy ride and I'm glad he had time to come and catch the filly."^[27]

After his consecutive victories, Calandagan was set to challenge the Juddmonte International Stakes once again, but Graffard eventually opted not to, commenting, "He [Calandagan] has big targets in Japan, Hong Kong, the Breeders' Cup and Dubai... I have to discuss it with the princess [Zahra Aga Khan], but at the moment I am probably going to go for a break with him."^[28]

Following his break, Calandagan raced on the 18th of October at the Qipco Champion Stakes. The field included star horses such as Ombudsman, the best racehorse in the world in the September and October Longines rankings; and Delacroix, who was awarded the Cartier Champion Three-year-old Colt award a month later. Both Calandagan and Ombudsman started the race in the very rear, and both horses simultaneously made their move around the outside of the pack nearing the two-furlong pole. However, it was Calandagan with the lead inside the final furlong, with Ombudsman about a length behind. Ombudsman desperately tried to chase down the leader, but Calandagan stayed strong and extended his lead to win the Champion Stakes by 2+1⁄4 lengths. Mickael Barzalona spoke after the race, "I think he's a very good horse. He deserves it. When he found his action and I was ready to go, I let him go. I could feel Ombudsman coming to me but I was going much better than him," and added, "It's been an incredible job from everyone in the yard. Everyone works very hard and it has paid off today."^[29]

Running at the Japan Cup

Calandagan's next run was the Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse. He was originally to be joined by his stablemate Goliath, and Aidan O'Brian's Los Angeles and Queenstown, but all three horses withdrew leaving Calandagan to be the only foreign horse in the race. When asked about their preparations for Japan, stable manager Nemone Routh stated, "[Calandagan] has one more hoop to jump through... and if all goes to plan he will then take his flight and ship to Japan."^[30]

Immediately after the race started, Admire Terra threw off his jockey, disqualifying him from the race. Calandagan waited in the middle of the back third of the field for the first couple of furlongs of the race, before moving to the outside where he stayed until the final 500m. He surged forward with Masquerade Ball in the final 200m of the race, alongside Admire Terra. All three horses were within a head of each other, as the lead changed multiple times between Calandagan and Masquerade Ball. However, Calandagan took the lead by a head right before the finish, securing his victory. The official winning time of the race was 2:20.3, slightly faster than Almond Eye's track record, and the fastest time on 2400m turf, of 2:20.6. With his victory, Calandagan is the first foreign horse to win the Japan Cup since Alkaased twenty years ago, and the second ever French-trained horse to win since Le Glorieux in 1987.^[31]

After Calandagan's Japan Cup victory, trainer Francis Graffard said that:^[32]

"It's one thing bringing the best horse in the world to this race but he faced a really high-quality field. Everything seemed to go well but I was looking for Christophe Lemaire and he seemed to get a dream run through. He went a head up and I thought we were beaten but he's tough and he battled back. He's an exceptional horse to have put his head in front on the line."

Princess Zahra Aga Khan also issued a statement to the Japan Racing Association:^[33]

"It has been a very good year thanks to the people sitting next to me and the rest of the team – it's, I think, the best year we've had in a very long time... Calandagan is a good horse – he's trained and has improved throughout the year. Both Francis and Mickael know how to read the horse and bring him to the best place on the right day at the right time. It's been a great honour to win this race today and to be here. It's been truly an amazing experience."

Calandagan ended 2025 with a rating of 130, the highest rating in the world at the time. For this, he was crowned the year's World’s Best Racehorse by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities on 20 January, 2026.^[34][35]