Calandagan delivered the kind of performance that rewrites what’s possible on a racetrack. On a cool Sunday morning in Tokyo, the Chantilly-trained star powered through the 45th Japan Cup and didn’t just win—he shattered a world record in the process.

The French colt, conditioned by Francis Graffard in the Oise training hub of Chantilly, stopped the clock at an astonishing 2:20.3 for 2,400 metres on turf. That time erased a mark that had stood since 1989, when Arcadia set 2:22.8 at Santa Anita, California. For a race long considered the crown jewel of late-season international competition, Calandagan raised the bar even higher.

Graffard admitted the pressure was immense.

"I was really nervous before the race. It's one thing bringing the best horse in the world to this race but he faced a really high-quality field. Everything seemed to go well, but I was looking for Christophe Lemaire and he seemed to get a dream run through," he said.

"He went a head up and I thought we were beaten but he's tough and he battled back. He's an exceptional horse to have put his head in front on the line."

The performance added yet another milestone to a year already filled with them for the homebred defender of the Aga Khan Studs. After being crowned European Horse of the Year at the Cartier Awards and rated 130 as the World’s Best Racehorse by the IFHA, Calandagan has been the defining figure of the 2025 season.

Sunday’s triumph also pushed Graffard into historic territory. His 14th Group 1 win of the year broke the long-standing French record held by André Fabre. In 2025 alone, his trophy haul includes the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Daryz, the Prix de Diane with Gezora, England’s King George and Champion Stakes with Calandagan, the Breeders’ Cup with Gezora, and Germany’s Grand Prix von Baden-Baden with Goliath.

Calandagan’s Japan Cup victory came the hard way. Buried in 11th early, he only began to unwind at the top of the Tokyo straight, circling the pack wide. The race distilled into a two-horse battle with Japanese favorite Masquerade Ball, the pair opening daylight on the rest of the field. With 250 metres to run, it was a duel—no more, no less—settled by a margin so tight it nearly vanished in real time: a head.

More than 77,000 fans packed Tokyo Racecourse, and fittingly, the two horses driving the finish were guided by two Chantilly-raised Frenchmen—Mickaël Barzalona, retained by the Aga Khan, aboard Calandagan, and Christophe Lemaire, the longtime JRA superstar, on Masquerade Ball.

France vs Japan. Chantilly vs Chantilly. And a world-record performance to seal it.

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