Kalpana joins the ranks of King George's great mares

A five-year-old mare named Kalpana made history at Royal Ascot on July 25, 2025, winning the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. She became the first female horse to win this race since Enable did it in 2020. The prize money was £2 million, or about S$3.44 million. Jockey Colin Keane rode her to victory, beating rival Calandagan by one and a half lengths.

Kalpana is trained by Andrew Balding and is owned by a group called Juddmonte. She had already won two other top-level Group 1 races at the same track in 2024 and 2025. This King George win was her third Group 1 victory and her eighth career win overall. It also gave Juddmonte their fifth King George winner, following famous horses like Dancing Brave and Enable.

The win was extra special because Kalpana had come second in this same race the year before, losing to a French horse named Calandagan. France had held the King George title for two straight years before Kalpana ended that run. She came back stronger and more focused in 2025. Trainer Andrew Balding said she was even about 10 kilograms lighter on race day, which was a good sign.

The race started at a fast pace, with three horses from Aidan O'Brien's stable pushing hard at the front. Keane kept Kalpana calm and comfortable in fourth place during the early stages. As the front runners began to tire, Kalpana moved forward smoothly. She took the lead about 400 metres from the finish and held on to win despite a strong challenge from Calandagan.

Keane was celebrating his first King George win and spoke warmly about the mare after the race. 'She can quicken almost instantly and gets you out of trouble when you need her,' he said. He also praised her toughness, saying she had shown her true class. He added that he felt lucky to ride for Juddmonte and receive chances in such big races.

For trainer Andrew Balding, the victory had a very personal meaning. His father, Ian Balding, had trained the famous Mill Reef to win the King George back in 1971. Now, 54 years later, Andrew has also trained a King George winner. This makes them the only parent-and-child pair to each train a winner of this great race.

Balding also had a second winner that same day with his two-year-old filly Moonrise. She won the Group 3 Princess Margaret Japan Cup Stakes over 1,200 metres, ridden by Oisin Murphy. It was only Moonrise's third race and her first Group-race win. She beat Dee's Funny Girl by a neck, with Velozee finishing third.

Because of that win, Moonrise earned an automatic spot in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in the United States on October 30. The race at Keeneland in Kentucky is worth US$1 million and is run over 1,600 metres. Balding said he was unsure about travelling to America so late in the year. He said the next logical step for Moonrise would be the Group 2 Lowther Stakes at York on August 20.