But there is one horse that has come along in the last couple of years who it truly feels is something special that I may never see anything like again if I were to continue to follow Racing for the next fifty years.
In Frankel the Racing world has found a superstar that transcends the sport and everybody with even a passing interest in Horse Racing should count themselves extremely lucky to have him around and be able to have the opportunity to experience his dominant brilliance first hand.
With a tenth straight victory under his belt now after yet another demolition job in the Lockinge at the weekend, Frankel now not only looks like the greatest race horse on the planet but also quite possibly the greatest race horse of all time.
As connections ponder his next move, and I cross my fingers it is the Queen Anne on the first day of Royal Ascot so I get the chance to experience Frankelmania in person, I decided to look back at this incredible horse’s incredible journey so far by chronicling the ten races he has won on his way to being heralded as perfection in equine form.
1. 13.8.10 – European Breeders’ Fund Maiden Stakes – Newmarket
Even the best have to start somewhere and Frankel’s debut by current standards was somewhat of a low key affair.
He still went off favourite on his debut, the only time he has ever started a race at odds against thus far, at Newmarket on the July course and he notched his first of ten wins by ½ a length from Nathaniel in a maiden race that would go on to have two future champions finishing one-two with the vanquished Nathaniel going on to land the King George in the summer of 2011.
Frankel looked a good horse on his debut, powering through at the end after having a somewhat less than ideal break but I don’t think anyone could’ve imagined just how good the Galileo colt would become.
2. 10.9.10 – Frank Whittle Partnership Conditions Stakes – Doncaster
Frankel’s second start was his first and only trip to Yorkshire to date as he made the journey north to tackle 7f for the first time.
With his main rival withdrawn, Frankel merely had to turn up to make it two from two, accelerating well clear of his two rivals to easily win by an impressive 13l under an almost motionless Tom Queally.
This was a clearly a colt going places fast and a first Group win was just around the corner.
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3. 25.9.10 – Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes (Group 2) – Ascot (Round)
“He’s a class apart from these”
Just over two weeks later it was his owner’s race the Royal Lodge for Frankel as he stepped up to Group class for the first time on the round course at Ascot.
The opposition may have been stiffer this time around but the result was much the same as Frankel powered well clear of his rivals to score by 10l from Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Klammer, with subsequent Derby runner-up Treasure Beach back in third, retrospectively making this win all the more impressive.
Frankel’s incredible turn of foot in the Royal Lodge to put so much distance between himself and good opponents in a Group race really marked him as a special animal indeed and a first Group 1 win would be imminent.
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4. 16.10.10 – Dubai Dewhurst Stakes (Group 1) - Newmarket
It was back down to 7f for Frankel as he sought his first Group 1 win in the Dewhurst on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile course.
In what was a hotly anticipated clash between three of the top 2YO’s Frankel took on dual Group 1 winning Dream Ahead and the unbeaten Saamidd.
In the end it was the admirable Irish 2000 Guineas winner Roderic O’Connor that got closet to Frankel, beaten 2 ¼ lengths. It again looked all too easy for Frankel but he had to overcome another unclean break and perhaps a little greenness as he edged right on the run in but Frankel was certainly ending his juvenile campaign as the most exciting horse in training going in to his classic season.
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5. 16.4.11 – totesport.com Greenham Stakes (Group 3) – Newbury (Straight)
The first race back after the winter for Frankel was the well-respected trial the Group 3 Greenham at Newbury.
The hype machine was by now in to overdrive and a big run was expected here in what would be the first meeting between Frankel and a horse that would soon be all too familiar with the sight of his backside Excelebration.
Picture Editor was run here by connections as a pacemaker but Frankel was as good as on terms a long way out and it was Excelebration who would try to kick for home first but Frankel soon had him struggling and powered home once more by 4l.
This victory may not have been the outstanding performance some were hoping for but Frankel would more than make amends for that with his next run.
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6. 30.4.11 – Qipco 2000 Gunieas Stakes (Group 1) – Newmarket
“Frankel wins the Guineas… Fantastic, Frankel wins”
Frankel was sent off the 1/2 favourite for the 2000 Guineas in 2011 and it was soon clear why.
With a pacemaker once again employed many of the other jockeys thought the flash of green, white & pink they could see up at the head of affairs was in fact the pacemaker but by the time they realised that Frankel was inexplicably trying to make all at a breakneck speed it was too late.
With Frankel spread-eagling the field in a display you’ll do well to ever see emulated on a race course again he cemented himself as the most talked about race horse in the game.
Sure he began to slow down as he approached the line, but after putting up sectionals like that you’d expect nothing less. People tried to pour cold water on the performance after wondering whether he could possibly continue in that vein in the future but no one can deny that the Rowley Mile played host to a performance you can scarcely believe. Frankel was 6l clear of the second horse when they crossed the line, with 1/2l back to third and a further eleven back to the nearest challenger. Some horses, the Godolphin pair in particular have never been the same since; Frankel had well and truly broken his rivals that day.
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7. 14.6.11 – St. James’s Palace Stakes (Group 1) – Ascot
After that Guineas performance everybody wondered what was next for the super-colt as he was one of the star names on a fantastic first day of the Royal meeting at Ascot.
It was almost like he knew he had to do something special again as he rounded pacemaker Rerouted with 3f to go and kicked clear of the chasing pack. However this time he seemed to idle in front and was flat out as Zoffany closed him down on the run in with Excelebration once again chasing him home back in third.
Frankel held on to stretch his unbeaten run to 7 finishing 3/4l in front of the second horse. A lot of blame for what most called a disappointing performance was placed with jockey Tom Queally for going for home on him too early but Frankel once again proved he could do things the hard way and when all was said and done he had added another Group 1 to his increasingly glittering collection of prizes.
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8. 27.7.11 – Qipco Sussex Stakes (Group 1) - Goodwood
“Frankel saw off Canford Cliffs in the twinkling of an eye”
After the St. James’s Palace the naysayers were back out in force and there were many who thought that Frankel could be beaten in what was billed as the ‘Duel on the Downs’ as he took on his elders for the first time in the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
The touted ‘duel’ was with top miler Canford Cliffs who had accounted for wonder-mare Goldikova at Royal Ascot. Frankel received weight all round and was once again sent off an odds on favourite.
It was soon clear why, as he once again made all having Canford Cliffs toiling away in behind some way out. It was a dominant performance and although it emerged Canford Cliffs wasn’t 100% that day and was subsequently retired, Frankel had proved himself against older horses in the most stunning of ways.
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9. 15.10.11 - Queen Elizabeth II Stakes Sponsored by Qipco (Group 1) – Ascot
“Excelebration and Immortal Verse …are made to look mere mortals”
Frankel finished his 3YO campaign in the QEII at Ascot on the newly formed Champion’s Day and with no real new challengers in the field, in spite of five Group 1 winners making up the line-up, he was widely expected to make it 9 out of 9.
Once again Excelebration got closest, with French challenger Immortal Verse back in third but not one of them could match Frankel as he once again powered well clear of a good field and made them all look average.
2011 was very much the year of Frankel and he finished the year as he began it with a 4l victory over a horse that in any other year would probably have been a champion miler.
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10. 19.5.12 – JLT Lockinge Stakes (Group 1) – Newbury (Straight)
“What a machine, what a monster”
The Racing world can count itself very lucky that we are getting to see Frankel on a race course as a 4YO but just as the flat season got going it looked like we may not get that privilege as an injury on the gallops looked like possibly bringing an abrupt end to his career.
Thankfully though it was merely a set back and Frankel made it to his intended first target of the season the Lockinge at Newbury. Although it is widely expected he’ll be tacking distances further than a mile in time, it was at a mile that Frankel began his 2012 campaign and although the injury scare had some proclaiming this might be the time to upset him, he once again thrashed Excelebration within an inch of his life and ran out a hugely impressive winner.
The Lockinge was Frankel’s sixth Group 1 victory, an impressive haul by any standard but the manner in which he quickly and almost clinically despatched his rivals suggests that he’ll have added several more of the sport’s biggest prizes to that list by the end of the 2012 season.
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