Calandagan will aim to provide a third straight success for Francis-Henri Graffard in Saturday’s Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2400m) at Ascot.

The French trainer has successfully taken the mid-summer Group 1 with then four-year-olds Goliath and Calandagan in the last two years and will be again represented by the Aga Khan Stud-owned gelding. Although the son of Gleneagles suffered a second successive defeat in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes (2400m) at Epsom, he bounced back to winning form in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (2400m), showing a tremendous turn of foot to come from the rear.

"I was upset with myself at Epsom like I said before,” said Graffard. "He's such a good horse. He's like a greyhound, if you put a rabbit in front of him he tries to catch it. Mickael [Barzalona] said his acceleration is so long and he can keep accelerating for so long. He's an unbelievable horse.

“The King George is the obvious race for him. He loves Ascot and the mile and a half.”

Victory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes has evaded Aidan O’Brien since Highland Reel in 2016, but Ballydoyle’s representative Benvenuto Cellini makes plenty of appeal after his Group 1 Irish Derby (2400m) success. Nine of the last twenty King George victors have tasted success on their start prior to Ascot victory, and the son of Frankel impressed at the Curragh with a comfortable win over Epsom Derby (2400m) scorer Christmas Day.

"Benvenuto is a beautiful mover with a lot of class,” said O’Brien. “Ryan felt we’d rather go back to a mile and a quarter than go any further than a mile and a half, so that’s class. He is well-suited to fast ground with pace on, so he could be ready made for the Breeders’ Cup Turf [in future].”

Photo: Healy Racing