Calandagan, Goliath Meet in Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud
The Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1) has gone for export in five of the last six years but, even if British or Irish trainers had set their sights on the €400,000 prize this season, they would have needed to send an absolute top-notcher to challenge a hugely talented home defense in the 1 1/2-mile contest June 29 at Saint-Cloud Racecourse.
Francis-Henri Graffard has managed to keep Goliath and Calandagan apart from one another since their twin emergence as major middle-distance forces last summer, but this is the perfect spot for both and he is a trainer who has never been afraid to run his horses when they are in form.
Calandagan has now finished second in four consecutive group 1s, most recently when going down narrowly to the improving Jan Brueghel in a Coronation Cup (G1) Ryan Moore was determined would be a thorough test of stamina.
Accusations that the Aga Khan’s son of Gleneagles is in anyway not genuine look wide of the mark, and he might have won at the top level by now were he a bit more tactically versatile.
“Calandagan came out of his run at Epsom really well and I couldn’t be happier with the horse,” Graffard said. “He should be suited by the small field and good ground.”
As Stephane Pasquier discovered last year and Mickael Barzalona is now well aware of, Calandagan does not like to be rushed early on. But in what might not be a race that is run at a frantic pace, connections will hope he can be close enough to strike up a straight which gives every chance to those coming from behind.
Goliath appeared to be at a crossroads in his career after the occasion—and perhaps the intercontinental travel—got to him in both Japan and Hong Kong, but he looked much more his old self when dominating from the front in the La Coupe (G3) last time.
“Goliath came on a lot from his comeback win at Longchamp and I’m very pleased with his state of mind and physical condition,” Graffard said of the gelding owned by Resolute Racing and breeder Baron Philip von Ullmann. “It’s probably going to be a tactical race but the horse is ready to perform well.”
Jockey Christophe Soumillon will be mindful that there will be much more finishing power arrayed behind him if he chooses to adopt similar tactics and might have to stretch the elastic a little tighter in setting the fractions.
Francis-Henri Graffard (far left) with Goliath after his victory in the 2024 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot Racecourse
With a French rating of 123 he is officially 1 pound superior to Calandagan and 3 pounds clear of Aventure , an advantage which is nullified by her sex allowance.
Christophe Ferland has given Wertheimer et Frere’s Aventure two relatively easy tasks against her own sex over a mile and a quarter with the specific aim of having her peak for this, while fillies and mares boast five wins in the last 15 years, as well as 12 placed runners from just 30 starters.
“This has been Aventure’s objective since the start of the season and we have given her two prep races to get her here, while she has excellent form at 2,400 meters,” said Pierre-Yves Bureau, racing manager to Wertheimer et Frere. “The opposition is extremely strong but she’s in great form. She wasn’t at 100% for either of her first two races and we chose to give her a couple of easier tasks to get her to peak for this.”
Aventure’s two best performances in the 2024 Prix Vermeille (G1) and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) have been with some give in the ground, but she has appeared just as comfortable on a quicker surface, something she is likely to encounter at a quick-drying Saint-Cloud despite the flash storms that struck Paris June 25.
The drying ground is also arguably a slight negative for Goliath and, in a race so tight at the top, that might just be enough to sway things in favor of Calandagan, although the margins are so tight that the horse who gets the smoothest run might well edge matters.
