The Longines World Racing Awards crowned Calandagan as their horse of the year on Tuesday evening, with Gewan taking home the prize for champion juvenile for Andrew Balding. Entries for the six Grade 1 Cheltenham novice races were also completed as we round up a busy 24 hours in the racing news cycle.
Calandagan & Gewan honoured at Longines awards
The Francis-Henri Graffard-trained Calandagan was named as the world’s best racehorse at the Longines Awards on Tuesday evening. The globetrotting gelding landed four straight Group 1 prizes to conclude 2025, starting with the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud through the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Champion Stakes at Ascot, and culminating in a piece de resistance in the Japan Cup at Tokyo racecourse. In so doing, he became the first European horse to win the last-named race for 20 years and was rated 2lb clear of his contemporaries at the Savoy Hotel in London. (Mirror)
Calandagan was not the only horse crowned by Longines on Tuesday night as Gewan was named the European Champion juvenile for 2025. Andrew Balding’s star was an impressive yet surprising winner of the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, but the handicappers clearly saw that as no shock as he was rated 2lb clear of both Gstaad and Puerto Rico of Aidan O’Brien’s yard. He was the first winner of the award not representing Godolphin or Coolmore for seven years. (Racing TV)
Cheltenham Festival Grade 1 novice entries released
In National Hunt news, entries were released for the six Grade 1 novice events at the 2026 Cheltenham Festival. Five of the six contests saw an upturn in the number of entries compared to 2025, with the Turners Novices’ Hurdle in particular seeing a sharp increase in interest from 79 entries in 2025 to 94 this season. The only race which saw a downturn in numbers was the Arkle Challenge Trophy, which saw a slight drop in entries from 25 to 23. (Sporting Life)
Oldschool Outlaw bought by McManus but Solly’s Gold syndicate hold firm
As is so often the case in the build-up to Cheltenham, owner JP McManus has flexed his muscles to purchase Oldschool Outlaw, a strong fancy for the Grade 2 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. The six-year-old won a Listed bumper last season for Gordon Elliott and claimed a noteworthy victory on her hurdling bow when defeating last season’s Champion Bumper heroine Bambino Fever, who is favourite for the aforementioned Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. (Irish Field)
However, one horse who will not be sold in advance of the Cheltenham Festival is New Year’s Day bumper winner Solly’s Gold. The Value Racing Syndicate which owns the horse say they have turned down a six-figure offer for their unbeaten Champion Bumper contender, who has won at Wetherby and Cheltenham since the start of December, the latter in Listed company to start 2026. The four-year-old is in training with James Owen and would look to become the first Champion Bumper winner for his age group since Cue Card 16 years ago. (Racing Post)