Impressive Kalpana cut for Champions Day mission

Kalpana’s odds for her Champions Day engagement were chopped following an impressive victory in the Unibet September Stakes at Kempton.

Winner of a Listed event at Hamilton on her most recent start, the Juddmonte-owned Kalpana is as low as 7-2 favourite with William Hill for the Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes following her win in the hands of PJ McDonald.

Lion’s Pride had gone for home in the Group Three feature, but McDonald merely had to give the signal and the Andrew Balding-trained filly shot clear to coast home a four-and-three-quarter-length winner.

McDonald, who has ridden Group One winners in Laurens and Pyledriver, has no doubt Kalpana (evens favourite) can make her mark in the highest company if she lines up at Ascot on October 19.

He told Racing TV: “One hundred per cent (I can see her being aimed at at Group One), I can’t see no reason (why not). Personally, I think she’s still a bit green and raw. I think she will continue to improve with time and age. I’d be very excited about her.

“It’s very hard to say (how she would rank against the best horses I have ridden), I don’t like to compare horses, but this filly has so much more improvement to give. I think the sky is the limit for her, to be honest.

“It was very smooth, I was always in control and I felt at every stage of the race I was doing things easily.

“She did it very easily at Hamilton, but today I properly sat into her, gave her a flick (of my whip) and let her stretch – you could see the further she was going, the better she was going. She galloped out to the line so well.”

Symbol Of Strength lived up to his name as he dug deep for Group Three glory in the Unibet Sirenia Stakes.

Adrian Keatley’s charge posted a career-best effort when defying his 80-1 odds to finish third in the Gimcrack at York last month and punters had plenty of confidence in victory this time around.

Sent off the 5-2 favourite, Symbol Of Strength raced in mid-division through the early stages of the six-furlong contest before Tom Marquand switched to the middle of the track to launch his run in the straight.

The Kodiac colt had to work to reel in Jouncy and as he headed that rival, Brian made a late lunge for glory, but Symbol Of Strength had enough in reserve at the line for a half-length call over Jouncy with Brian just a head away in third.

Symbol Of Strength’s odds for the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes were cut to 14-1 from 25s by Paddy Power following his victory, with Keatley also considering the Dubai Duty Free Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury.

He said: “It will very much depend on the ground. We’ll be keeping an eye on both of those races and all the doors are open for him now. We will be looking closely at Newbury, but also with a view to looking at Newmarket.

“His form is right there, the horse is well up in the betting for the Middle Park and he was thereabouts in York as well last time as well.

“He has put that to bed today with probably everything against him as he was well back and got the job done.

“He’s not just a two-year-old, I think he could step back to five furlongs but also he races sensibly and he could get seven next year.

“We will be looking at all the big races now and I think we’re entitled to.”