Clare Balding cheering her little brother on in blockbuster end to the season

Andrew Balding may have been denied in the Mill Reef Stakes run in honour of his late father Ian, but his sister Clare feels Kalpana could prove the perfect ally for her brother in a blockbuster end to the season.

The former face of terrestrial racing coverage was a proud observer at Newbury on Saturday as Jolivette went down fighting in a race that carries the name of her father's champion, who claimed the Derby, King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Arc glory in 1971.

Fast forward 55 years and it was Kalpana putting the Balding name in the King George limelight once more. Already twice a winner on Champions Day, she is being prepared for a second crack at Europe's richest middle-distance prize in Paris, while there is still a chance Balding could be champion trainer.

Clare Balding said: “I saw Kalpana this morning and she looked awfully well given the season she has had, which has been a busy one. She is some trier and she's just a lovely, enthusiastic racehorse who loves her racing.

“Fillies do get an advantage in the Arc, but it's still a hell of a tough race to win. It meant an awful lot to Andrew to win the King George with her. As a trainer there are targets you want to achieve in your life and because dad won the King George, Derby and Arc with Mill Reef I think Andrew would love to try to do something similar.

“But Andrew has done things dad never managed to do, he's won the 2000 Guineas and the Oaks and now he's won the King George – to go on and win the Arc would be a huge huge thing.”

Win, lose or draw in the French capital on October 4, it will be Ascot two weeks later where the major battle lines will be drawn in the race to be champion trainer.

Balding was just shy of £220,000 adrift of Aidan O'Brien heading into the weekend, meaning he is tantalisingly placed in his quest to be crowned champion for the first time.

And while his coronation may have to wait until the end of the calendar year, success on British Champions Day would go some way to ensuring a deep-winter lap of honour to the title.

It would be an achievement that would be made even more remarkable coming in the year he lost his father, with the elder sibling in awe of her little brother's ever-growing standing within a sport her family's name will always be indelibly linked.

“What a season Andrew is having, he works incredibly hard and it's unbelievable the way his brain works and the number of facts and information about his horses he can retain,” continued Balding.

“It would be amazing in the year we lost dad if Andrew could do it and to even be a challenger for the trainers' championship is a hell of an achievement. He's grown the yard massively and it's maybe not quite three-times the size dad had, but not far off that and it's a huge operation.

“I am deeply impressed by him and I'm his older sister and it takes a lot to impress me.

“We're beginning to hope and that's what can crush you in the end, but he's in there clinging on and hanging tough.

“It will all come down to Champions Day and if Kalpana does run in the Arc, will she then be able to back up so quickly on Champions Day? Those races are worth plenty of money and while we have hope we'll cling on to that until it kills us.”

It is perhaps fitting that to secure championship gold, one of the most recognisable family names in British racing will have to dethrone the head of Ireland's most famous racing dynasty.

While the master of Ballydoyle holds a slender advantage, an unlikely ally in Balding's late-season charge could come from within the O'Brien fold in Aidan's son Joseph, someone who has regularly been a thorn in his father's side this season and a frequent visitor to the winner's podium on his raids to Britain.

Balding added: “I said to Andrew earlier in the season that his best friend could end up being Joseph and to keep ringing and telling him to keep bringing them over to win the races so Aidan can't!

“Andrew always has a plan and has a great team, but it's a lot of hard work and any trainer will tell you there is some stress which comes with it. He's just kept having the great results this year, but Aidan is always pretty damn difficult to beat.

“Aidan has always been very good to me especially when I was covering the racing and he's always been good to Andrew and Anna-Lisa (Balding) and has always said he hopes if he isn't winning they are. He's a really good guy – but he's been champion trainer a lot and it would be great if someone else could get a chance and it to be Andrew!”