Balding believes Kalpana is a ‘must win’ in bid for trainers’ title

Andrew Balding described Kalpana's bid to claim a third Qatar Racing British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes as a “must win” in his battle to wrest the trainers' championship from Aidan O'Brien.

The Royal course provides a fitting stage for what looks to be the defining day in the title race, with five Group One prizes up for grabs and both trainers holding live hopes of success.

Balding may have an advantage of just over £90,000 going into Champions Day, but admitted his rival from Ballydoyle holds a “stronger hand” across the card.

“I think Kalpana is a must win for us,” said the Kingsclere handler. “Aidan just sets such an incredibly high standard and is going into the most important meeting with a stronger hand than us, so we are not expecting anything.

“We are just very proud of our achievements in getting as close as we have to him. He is a trainer of a generation, or generations really. With the amount of prize-money we have won we might have won the championship any other year, but he is just extraordinary.”

Kalpana heads up the five-strong team for Balding and represents his best chance of striking Group One gold in a race in which he also saddles See The Fire.

O'Brien fires eight shots during the afternoon with Gstaad (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes), Constitution River (Qatar Racing Champion Stakes), Minnie Hauk (Fillies and Mares) and Queenstown (Qatar Racing British Champions Long Distance Cup) all looking dangerous.

One chink of light for the challenger is that O'Brien is bidding to do something he has not yet achieved in his ground-breaking career, namely win three British titles on the spin, with the ‘three-peat' eluding him after back-to-back wins in 2001-02, 2007-08 and 2016-17.

After winning the last two titles in 2024 and last year, he has another chance to get the hat-trick up this term.

“If it happens we'll be over the moon and we'll do our best,” O'Brien said on a British Champions Day media call on Thursday.

“After this we'll only really have the Futurity Trophy (at Doncaster on Saturday week) left and then we're finished, so I would imagine for us to do it we'll have to win one of the Group Ones on Saturday and that's not easy.

“It's very competitive and the horses have had a long, hard season. It's obviously very important and it's a privilege and a pleasure for us to be involved in it. It's great to be able to win it any time you do win it, obviously we know Andrew well and we'd always only wish him the very best.”

Balding pitches Kalpana into battle just 13 days after her run to finish fifth in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, which was always the plan after following the same route last season.

Asked how she has recovered from her exertions at ParisLongchamp, the trainer said: “I would have said exactly the same thing last year but it is quite a difficult read when you area backing up this close, just 13 days later.

“We've followed exactly the same programme as we did last year. She sat upsides (in work) on Wednesday and seemed fine. She has eaten well and looks very well in herself and jogged up grand after the race.

“I am slightly guessing, but she's absolutely fine and appears to have come out of France really well. With regard to the rest of our team it is not like I can transfer in six players. We've got what we've got and we can't do any more, so it is in the lap of the Gods.”

Whatever the result from Saturday, Balding looks to be building an operation which he hopes can continue to challenge the sport's powerhouse yards in the years to come.

He said: “You hope so. We have been second in the championship a couple of times and we have been third and there or thereabouts, but to be honest the main purpose of what we are trying to do is have horses who are capable of running in the big races, whether in England or abroad.

“If the title happens it's lovely but we are hoping to build the environment where good horses reach their potential.”

With the trainers' championship not officially concluded until December 31, Balding could yet keep some horses on the go if he feels he is still in with a sniff of the title after Saturday and the final Group One of the season at Doncaster next weekend.

He added: “There are a few horses, mainly ones we own ourselves, that we might keep going, and a couple that might come out of the horses in training sale if suddenly we did need them, but we will just see what happens on Saturday first and take it from there.”