Kalpana ready to raise the roof with Ascot hat-trick

“Everybody’s favourite” Kalpana bids to make history with a hat-trick of victories in the Qatar Racing British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.

Having impressed in winning this Group One prize in each of the past two seasons, the Juddmonte-owned five-year-old is out to become the first ever three-time winner on British Champions Day, which was first staged in 2011.

She looked better than ever when beating the boys in the King George over the course and distance in July and after adding a fourth top-level win her CV in the Yorkshire Oaks hopes were high ahead of her second tilt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe a fortnight ago.

Ultimately she came up short again, this time finishing fifth having come home seventh 12 months ago, but title-chasing trainer Andrew Balding is hopeful she can repeat the feat she managed last year by bouncing back to winning ways in Berkshire.

“She is definitely my favourite because she’s been such a joy to have in the yard for this long,” said the Kingsclere handler.

“Obviously Alcohol Free won four Group Ones including a Sussex Stakes and a Cheveley Park and was extraordinary, but Kalpana is such a delight to have anything to do with and we are very proud of her achievements and particularly fond of her as a horse – she is everybody’s favourite.

“I would rather get drawn out a bit (drawn in stall one), but Colin (Keane) has been faultless on her at Ascot in the past and I’m sure he’ll work it out. You hope she can jump well and get the position he wants.”

While Kalpana is a hot favourite to dispatch of her weekend rivals, Balding feels her task is far from straightforward.

“The thing is there are three-year-olds in there, she won it as a three-year-old and if they are improvers they are pretty tough to beat if they are good enough,” he added.

“I’m not taking anything for granted and she is going to have to be at her best to win it.

“The King George, Arc and this were the targets. We are following the same route and the only thing we changed from last season was the Yorkshire Oaks instead of the September Stakes. We are guessing slightly because it is difficult to read with a horse of this nature, but we have followed the same programme step for step and we’re just hoping we get the same result.”

The three-year-old contingent Balding mentions is headed by Joseph O’Brien’s Irish Oaks heroine Johanna Walsh, but she was well beaten when sixth behind Kalpana at York during the summer.

Another intriguing contender from the Classic generation is the William Haggas-trained Lilt, who is very much unexposed following just four lifetime starts and her runner-up finish to O’Brien’s Epsom Oaks winner Thundering On in the Blandford Stakes at the Curragh last month reads well.

“It is very interesting as her work has been very good since that race and I immediately thought about a mile and a half. I wonder whether it was just a bit of rustiness (having been off the track since June) or something else and whether a mile and a half at Ascot is actually what she needs,” said Haggas.

“The ground is going to be nice for her – she would like to get her toe in but it is not going to be firm – so it will give her every chance of getting the trip.

“I’m not convinced she wants a mile and a half, but it is worth a go and it is end of term. We could have gone for the Prix de l’Opera but we’ve missed that, so a mile and a half it is.”

Aidan O’Brien’s Minnie Hauk has struggled to discover her excellent three-year-old form from last season, most recently finishing 10th in the Arc, but the Ballydoyle handler is hopeful of an improved performance on what could well be her swansong.

“It’s possible it could be her last run, not definite. If she was to go again she would have the Breeders’ Cup, but it’s only two weeks away,” he said.

“We just felt in the Arc she got trapped in there off a very slow pace and she’s a filly who likes a nice, evenly-run mile and a half, but we felt she ran very well.

“Up to the Arc she did have problems with corns and didn’t have a clear run, but since then she’s been very good and everything has gone well since then.”