Kalpana team favouring September Stakes date ahead of Arc bid

Kalpana is set to tune up for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with a run in the September Stakes at Kempton.

Enable used the Group Three as a stepping stone when successful in Paris in 2018 and she also won the Kempton contest on her penultimate outing for the same owners, Juddmonte.

Trainer Andrew Balding and racing manager Barry Mahon were choosing between Kempton and France for the Prix Vermeille after her meritorious King George run and have decided to stay closer to home.

Mahon said: “We’ve decided she’s going to go to Kempton for the September Stakes I think.

“The timing suits, she hasn’t won a race this year so I think Andrew is keen to get her head in front.

“She’s already travelled to Ireland twice and she’ll have to travel to France in October, so the attraction of staying at home is more alluring.

“The Yorkshire Oaks was never in the mix, we said after the King George that she’d had a couple of tough races and she’d freshen up.

“It was between the September Stakes or the Vermeille and we’re leaning towards the September at this stage.”

Reflecting on Minnie Hauk’s victory in the Yorkshire Oaks, he said: “The winner is class, she’s a class filly and even though there were only four runners it was a very good race.

“Wherever the winner goes in the autumn, she’s going to be difficult to beat.

“The Arc is an open race and we’re in there with a chance as one of the favourites, it’s nice to have a contender.”