Kalpana and William Buick head for home from Wingspan and Sean Levey© Photo Healy Racing
Kalpana proved much the best when landing the Qipco British Champions Fillies &; Mares Stakes at Ascot.
Ridden by William Buick and trained by Andrew Balding, Kalpana was ridden patiently as the 10-3 favourite and kept handy as the turn for home approached.
In the straight she began to accelerate and was well able to pull clear of her 13 rivals, prevailing comfortably by two lengths from Aidan O’Brien’s Wingspan.
Tiffany finished three lengths further behind in third.
Kalpana made her racecourse bow in January and after a wide-margin handicap win at Newmarket in April, she was sent off an odds-on favourite for the Pretty Polly Stakes but had to give best to subsequent Group One scorer Friendly Soul.
Wins in a Hamilton Listed heat and the Group Three September Stakes last time got her season back on track and Balding is keen to carry on next term with this Group One under her belt.
He said: “She’s a wonderful filly and he gave her a perfect ride. It was a hell of a race back in May for the Pretty Polly, we were disappointed when she was beaten by Friendly Soul but she’s gone and won the Prix de l’Opera.
“I don’t think she’d even done any fast work at this time last year, so it’s been a pretty steep trajectory from Wolverhampton to here.
“I very much hope (she’ll stay in training), that was the plan anyway unless something has changed tonight.
“Whether she races against (Arc winner and fellow Juddmonte-owned filly) Bluestocking next year, I’ll leave to better minds than me. Juddmonte are an amazing operation and very much deserve the success they have. It would be heartache if they ran against each other so we’ll put that off for as long as we can I imagine.
“It’s very satisfying to win a race on this card, we’ve had a couple of good winners abroad but it’s always good to do it on home turf.
“He’s a great guy William, a brilliant jockey, and when Oisin (Murphy) couldn’t ride, Barry Mahon was very keen to have William and given the history, I was very, very happy with that.
“William said she wasn’t in love with the ground but she got through it.”
Juddmonte’s racing manager Barry Mahon said: “It’s hugely satisfying, she’s been some filly given she started on the all-weather in January.
“Andrew has done a great job with her and she’s just improved all year to be fair.
“If not for Bluestocking she could have gone for the Arc, but we hope the owners will keep her in training next year, so maybe this year this was a nice route to take and if she stays in training we can look at the Arc.
“We’ve not decided if Bluestocking stays in training or not yet, we talked about it over lunch today and Prince Ahmed said he’d discuss it with his brothers and sisters in the next week or 10 days and then they’ll let us know.”
When asked if this result might make the decision a little easier, Mahon replied: “It might do.”
O’Brien was pleased with Wingspan’s effort and she could yet stay in training in 2025.
He said: “She ran very well and we weren’t sure about the trip but she seemed to get it very well.
“She’s a nice horse to campaign in races like this next year if she stays in training. That is not decided yet, all of the fillies will be decided at the end of the year, but it is possible and we will see what happens.”
Tiffany could have another Group One date before the end of the year for her trainer Sir Mark Prescott and owner-breeder the Elite Racing Club.
Prescott said: “She ran very well and the tactics worked perfectly, we just couldn’t get past the pacemaker (Wingspan). The pacemaker and us ran a marvellous race I thought, and the winner is just that much better. I thought we had every chance and she was beautifully positioned all the way.
“The ground obviously didn’t inconvenience her but she’s done all her winning on good to firm before.
“She’s done everything except win a Group One. She has placed in one and now she just has to run in Group Ones and try to win one. It is up to the trainer to be as devious and Machiavellian as possible and find the right Group One to run in.
“They are great breeders, Elite, and they bred Marsha as well as Tiffany and of course Soviet Song, who did so well for James Fanshawe.
“They will do what they did with Marsha and sell her at the end of next year. The wonderful thing about training for them is that they make up their minds early and say ‘you’ve got until she’s four or you’ve got until she’s five’, so I’ve got another year.
“She may possibly go to Germany for the Grosser Preis Von Bayern. I think it is November 10 in Munich. We won it with Alpinista and we won it with Albanova. So if she is all right after this, we will go there.”
