His Highness the Aga Khan introduces Calandagan to Edward VII Stakes
Never run in a race of this calibre, drawn out wide, and, his conditioner had suffered disappointment with entrants this week. But that did not deter Calandagan, nor faze his punters. His Highness, The Aga Khan's, three-year-old, prepared by Francis Graffard, was backed from morning 10-1 over to 11-2 for the King Edward VII Stakes.
And he skated like nothing else existed. Resigned to coming from behind in the 14-strong contest, Stephane Pasquier got him charging in the straight and whoosh they went - six lengths clear.
Francis had seen his French 1,000 Guineas holder, Rouhiya, ending up last in the same colours earlier, and said: "Training is like a rollercoaster. It was sad after my filly tailed off in the Coronation Stakes, but Calandagan has wiped that disappointment clean." Stephane added: "He needed to be nice from the gate and it went smoothly henceforth,. The pace was fast enough to come from behind. When he’s like this, he's a fantastic horse. I didn’t do anything. He knew what to do." The only misery is that Calandagan is not eligible for the Prix de l'Arc as he was snipped after Deauville. James Doyle who came second on Space Legend, praised Calandagan to the limit.
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A Royal Ascot punter won a mammoth £200,000 thanks to Fairy Godmother's remarkable stance in the Albany Stakes. He had placed a £100,000 bet on the course with Star Sports. The bet looked sunk when Aidan O'Brien' juvenile got trapped behind horses as stablemate Heaven's Gate revved inside the two-furlong pole, but Ryan Moore switched across towards to the stands' rail and flew home by 0.75 of a length.
Fairy Godmother was sent off at a starting price of 15-8, but the Brighton-based bookmaker laid the daughter of Night Of Thunder at 2-1, returning the punter £300,000 including their stake. Head of PR Luke Tarr said: “When we saw Ryan Moore and Fairy Godmother finding all sorts of traffic, we thought we’d dodged a bullet after laying £100,000 on course at 2-1. However, Ryan was not to be denied.
"It’s another winning big-stakes bet we’ve taken this week, having agreed a £100,000 at 13-8 on Auguste Rodin and £20,000 at 13-2 on Jayarebe. It has been one of the toughest Royal Ascots in our history, but this is why we’re here, to take big bets, and do it all again.”
Star Sports were spared further pain after taking a £100,000 bet at 3-1 on Opera Singer, who finished second in the Coronation Stakes.
Flynn Goward, the firm's managing director, who was on course, said: "We always say we like to be taking those big bets, but if you play with fire then you will get your fingers burned sometimes. We certainly did with Fairy Godmother.
