Kalpana’s King George win ‘number one’ for Balding
Andrew Balding has described training Kalpana to victory in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Royal Ascot as the standout win of his career, ranking it above all of his roughly 2,000 winners to date. The result carries added significance as it came six months after the death of his father, the legendary trainer Ian Balding, who won the same race in 1971 with Mill Reef, making it the second King George triumph for the family's Park House Stables in Hampshire.
Kalpana, having finished second in the race a year earlier, held off a late challenge from reigning champion Calandagan to win by one and a half lengths on Saturday. Balding admitted his team had expected an even stronger field than in 2025 and would have been content with third place. The victory, worth £1.3m as Britain's richest race, together with another win for Item at York, has also boosted the 53-year-old's position in the trainers' championship, closing the gap on leader Aidan O'Brien. Kalpana is now expected to head to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October.
- Kalpana won the King George at Royal Ascot for trainer Andrew Balding.
- Balding called it his best-ever win among 2,000 career victories.
- Win comes months after father Ian Balding's death; Arc de Triomphe planned next.
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Andrew Balding is one of Britain's leading horse racing trainers, with thousands of winners across his long career. He has just trained a horse called Kalpana to win the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, one of the country's most prestigious and richest horse races. Balding has described this victory as the standout achievement of his entire career, which is a remarkable claim given his extensive track record.
The win carries special meaning because it comes six months after the death of Balding's father, Ian Balding, himself a legendary figure in horse racing. Ian Balding won the same race in 1971 with a horse called Mill Reef. This is now the second time the Balding family's stables have won this prestigious race, adding a layer of significance to Andrew's victory that seems deeply personal.
The King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes is one of the most important races on the British racing calendar, carrying both prestige and substantial prize money. Victories in top-tier races like this significantly influence the annual standings that rank Britain's top trainers. This win therefore matters not just to Balding personally, but to his standing within the professional racing community.