Calandagan Forces Could Consider '26 Breeders' Cup Turf

American competition could be on the 2026 agenda for Calandagan (IRE), who tops the Longines' World's Best Racehorse Rankings going into the Nov. 30 Japan Cup (G1). "If so, it would certainly be for the Breeders' Cup Turf," Nemone Routh, racing manager for the owner, Aga Khan Studs, said at a Tokyo media event leading up to the Japan Cup. The Gleneagles (IRE) gelding was targeted to Japan right after he won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) at Ascot in June, trainer Francis-Henri Graffard said, precluding a shot at the Breeders' Cup World Championship at Del Mar. There were multiple factors in that decision, Routh added. One was Del Mar itself. "Even though he was multiply qualified this year, we didn't think Del Mar would suit him," she said. "He's a slow starter and would have to go around horses. With the short stretch, it would work against him. "Although the winner did come from the back …," she admitted. While the Keeneland layout is similar to Del Mar's, Routh said there is enough difference to affect the decision to run there. "It's not so much," she said. The rich mid-season turf races in New York do not tempt, she added, as Calandagan "has his own European program" during that timeframe. The fact Calandagan, all being well after the Japan Cup, will race as a 5-year-old is due to his misbehavior at 2, Graffard said. "He was difficult at age 2 and that's why he was gelded," the trainer said. While that decision now seems a blow to the Aga Khan's multi-generational breeding program, it's a boon to racing fans as he carries on his career on the track, and perhaps for American fans as well.