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Calandagan rights a wrong in Sheema Classic at Meydan

Updated / Saturday, 28 Mar 2026 17:41
Calandagan is currently the highest-rated horse in the world
Calandagan is currently the highest-rated horse in the world

Calandagan (1-4F) showed why he is officially the best horse in the world when running down long-time front-runner West Wind Blows in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Francis-Henri Graffard's five-year-old suffered defeat in this contest 12 months ago but would end the year top of the world standings after a winning run which began on home soil at Saint-Cloud and would then involve an Ascot double before ending the year with an historic triumph in the Japan Cup.

It was Simon and Ed Crisford’s West Wind Blows who slipped the field who raced in single file for the majority of the contest.

Rounding the bend for home Calandagan had just Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Ethical Diamond behind him with Rossa Ryan still going strong aboard West Wind Blows. But an ice-cool Mickael Barzalona refused to panic and his mount soon began closing the distance with a sublime finishing effort.

He would pass his rival to earn a pat down the neck from his jockey, registering a three-quarters of a length success and teeing-up an exciting summer.

Graffard, celebrating his first winner in Dubai, said: "I’m relieved, the winter was long and he’s a world champion now and has a big reputation so we just needed to start and get the season going.

"It was a big race today and it’s always hard to have a horse completely ready for a race like that, I said to Mickael he might need the race. It was tactical and painful to watch but he’s a champion."

Ombudsman (2-5f) delivered a spellbinding performance to make a winning seasonal return in the Dubai Turf.

John and Thady Gosden's son of Night Of Thunder was one of the stars of 2024, landing the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot before adding the Juddmonte International in a season where he also finished runner-up in the Eclipse and Champion Stakes.

Kept in training by Godolphin, this race was picked out by Sheikh Mohammed as the ideal starting point, a race the Clarehaven training team of course have won three times in the past with Lord North since 2021.

William Buick was in no rush in the saddle in the early stages but cruised stylishly into contention rounding the bend for home. Once Buick unleashed an inch of rein the response was deadly as Ombudsman stormed to the front and carried on galloping to lay down an early statement for the season ahead.

It was Simon and Ed Crisford’s Quddwah that filled the runner-up spot, but he was ultimately no match for the two-length winner.

John Gosden said: "I was delighted with him in every way and he’s a big and strong horse. He’s five now and fully matured.

"I liked that he was fresh but didn’t pull and William said he listened and settled and they did the usual thing of going quick then pulling it up on the bend. William crept close and I think where he was correct was by staying wide and giving away ground because when they straightened up he had a clear run."

Gosden added: "He was probably 90% today and I think it is one where the race will tighten him and bring him on, but there is a bit of a gap now before Royal Ascot because they don’t put a lot of these races on.

"He’s come here off a long winter but we’ve been very happy with his training. I think you are looking Prince of Wales’s Stakes again and the Eclipse, Juddmonte International, those are the obvious big summer races."

In the finale on the dirt, Steve Asmussen's Magnitude (15-2) won the 30th Dubai World Cup to give the trainer a second win in the race after Curlin’s success in 2008.

All eyes were on Japan’s Breeders’ Cup Classic hero Forever Young before the race, having added to his Del Mar success when defending his Saudi Cup crown last month.

However in Magnitude, America also had a horse arriving in Meydan in peak condition having taken the same two prep races that Asmussen’s Gun Runner did prior to finishing second to Arrogate in 2017.

Always to the fore in the hands of Jose Ortiz, the four-year-old never surrendered his position and although Forever Young fought hard to reel in his rival, Magnitude simply drew further clear as the winning post approached and the chasing pack wilted.

Forever Young would go one place better than 12 months ago for second, with Simon and Ed Crisford’s Meydann sticking on for the bronze medal.

While Asmussen was winning a second Dubai World Cup, it was a first for his jockey, who said: "I’m very happy and we knew we had a very good horse, but Forever Young is one of the best horses in the world and we had to respect that.

"It wasn’t really the plan to go to the front and we were leaving all options open. If he jumped well then we would go to the lead, but if somebody else jumped better than him then maybe just sit off the speed. The good thing is he is tactically versatile and he doesn’t have a running style.

"He broke well and he put me on the lead and I was very happy to be there.

"He felt great and when I looked to my side passing 600 metres and I saw Forever Young, I knew it was time to go and he was going to be the horse to beat. I asked him to run and he was there for me.

"To win the Dubai World Cup is a dream come true. I’m very happy to be here, I’m very happy for Steve who is back home and very happy for my family who I wish were here today."

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