D-Day for Calandagan in Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud

[Wandering Eyes]

“Always the bridesmaid, never the bride” is perhaps an apt way of describing the racing career of Calandagan thus far, even if he does have a Royal Ascot victory to show for his efforts, having been a runaway winner of last year's G2 King Edward VII Stakes.

Since then, the son of Gleneagles has been campaigned exclusively at the top level and it's been a case of close but no cigar, with four consecutive runner-up finishes in the Juddmonte International, Champion Stakes, Dubai Sheema Classic and Coronation Cup.

Beaten just half a length on the last occasion, having been sent off the 8/13 favourite to take advantage of what looked a golden opportunity to break his Group 1 duck, Calandagan suddenly had questions to answer after that Epsom defeat.

Was he simply outstayed by the previous year's St Leger hero, Jan Brueghel, in a contest run at a strong tempo on rain-softened ground? Or did he shirk the battle when moving up to challenge that tough rival entering the final furlong? Could it have been a combination of both?

“There are no excuses,” was the verdict afterwards from trainer Francis-Henri Graffard, adding, “He probably took the lead for a small moment and then when they started to climb again you could see that Ryan [Moore, Jan Brueghel's jockey] was finding more. He's a very talented horse and I'm sure he'll win a Group 1 as he always runs his race.”

Certainly, Calandagan possesses more than enough ability to gain that elusive Group 1 win under the right circumstances, with a Timeform rating of 127 seeing him ranked in joint-fifth place among the top horses in Europe right now.

However, the danger could lie within when he tries to make a belated breakthrough in Sunday's Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, with stable-mate Goliath (Adlerflug) possessing a rating of 128 from his impressive success in last year's G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

In total, five runners will face the starter on Sunday, with the others including last year's G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe second Aventure (Sea The Stars). She too deserves to win a Group 1 at some stage, having also filled the runner-up spot behind her Arc conqueror, Bluestocking (Camelot), in last year's G1 Prix Vermeille.

The Arc, of course, is one race not available to Calandagan as a gelding but, win, lose or draw on Sunday, the fact that there's no rush to send him to the breeding shed should allow him plenty more opportunities in Group 1 races if he can stay in one piece over the next few years.

Will he eventually end his racing days with the kind of CV that his talent deserves? Or will he retire as one of the best horses of recent times not to win a Group 1? Here, we take a look at a few names in the latter group whose company Calandagan will be looking to avoid.

Norse Dancer, the Ultimate 'Nearly' Horse

Not many horses manage to finish in the first four places in 10 different Group 1 races, but that was the achievement of the David Elsworth-trained Norse Dancer earlier this century, with three seconds, three thirds and four fourths to his name.

On five of those occasions the son of Halling passed the post less than a length behind the winner, with his narrowest defeat of all coming when he was beaten just a head and a short head in the 2003 Sussex Stakes won by Reel Buddy.

Like Calandagan, Norse Dancer reached a peak Timeform figure of 127, although he later had the dreaded Timeform 'squiggle' attached to his rating as he became increasingly temperamental. Sometimes slowly away, he often raced lazily and would carry his head awkwardly before finding little, looking thoroughly ungenuine at times.

Among the horses Norse Dancer was knocking heads with around that time were Ace and Maraahel, both of whom fall into the same category, having run well at the top level on several occasions without managing to get their heads in front.

Sir Michael Stoute's Maraahel had Ace and Norse Dancer behind him when finishing third in the 2005 Juddmonte International won by Electrocutionist, before being beaten just a short head by stable-mate Notnowcato in the same race 12 months later. So close was the finish that Maraahel's jockey Richard Hills waved his whip in celebration, mistakenly thinking he'd won it, before the official result from the judge revealed otherwise.

At the end of his 34-race career, Maraahel had seven Group-race wins to his name, but at the very top level he had to make do with that one runner-up finish, plus five thirds and a fourth in the 2004 St Leger. Like Norse Dancer, he didn't always show the resolution to match his ability, hence why he did much of his racing in later years in a visor or blinkers.

As for Ace, he ran in eight Group 1 races for Aidan O'Brien in that 2005 season and the only time he finished outside of the first four places came when he was fifth in the King George held at Newbury that year.

Juddmonte Stars with Seconditis

When Sir Henry Cecil's Phoenix Tower chased home Duke Of Marmalade in the 2008 Juddmonte International, he matched the achievement of Calandagan by finishing second in a Group 1 for the fourth start in a row, having already occupied that position in the Lockinge Stakes, Prince Of Wales's Stakes and Coral-Eclipse.

That record rather belied his excellent attitude and it was just a shame that he never raced again after that sequence of runner-up finishes, with a tendon tear later that year forcing him into a premature retirement.

Famous Name provided Prince Khalid Abdullah, the owner of Phoenix Tower, with another close call in 2008 when he was denied by just a head in the Prix du Jockey Club. He went on to prove himself a terrific servant to his connections, retiring as the winner of 20 stakes races, remarkably, but his 10 starts at the top level failed to deliver a win, with four further runner-up finishes being as close as he came.

Another Juddmonte performer with a similar profile was Bated Breath, who took second in a trio of top-level sprints in 2011, as well as the G1 King's Stand Stakes the following year.

For a few years after his retirement at the end of 2012, Bated Breath stood alongside his sire, Dansili, at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud. Dansili, also the sire of Famous Name, was then pensioned from stud duties in 2018, before his death at the end of 2021.

The sire of 24 individual Group/Grade 1 winners in his second career, including elite performers such as Harbinger, Rail Link and The Fugue, Dansili's own achievements as a racehorse had more in common with those of his aforementioned sons. He never quite managed to make the breakthrough at the top level, finishing second on three occasions and third on three others, with his swansong coming when he was beaten just a neck and a nose in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Mile.

High-Class Sprinters Hitting the Crossbar

Finally, a nod to a few sprinters, a division where they often take it in turns to beat each other, hence why consistent brilliance at the top level deserves to be acknowledged, even if it doesn't always bring its rewards.

The Karl Burke-trained Swingalong is a very recent example, having filled the runner-up spot in a trio of Group 1 sprints in 2024, losing out by half a length in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, a neck in the July Cup and a head in the Qipco British Champions Sprint Stakes. She'd done plenty right as a three-year-old the previous season, too, when her efforts included a third-place finish in the G1 Commonwealth Cup.

Swingalong is a daughter of the one-time Juddmonte runner Showcasing, who has also given us Tasleet, the runner-up in three Group 1 sprints himself in 2017, while Dragon Symbol is arguably as unlucky as any horse on this list not to have a top-level win to his name. He finished in the first four in four such races in 2021, including when passing the post first in the Commonwealth Cup, before being placed behind Campanelle after causing interference to that rival.

Going further back, The Tatling won the King's Stand Stakes in 2004 when the Royal Ascot prize still held Group 2 status. Trained by Milton Bradley, he was among the leading sprinters in training for several years, notably finishing second in three consecutive editions of the Nunthorpe Stakes between 2003 and 2005, as well as the 2004 Prix de l'Abbaye.

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