Frankel -- Breeding

Lets face it seems to hold all the aces on breeding but I just am not convinced as much as the guys who think hes the next Sea the stars has shown some temperament (not much I agree) but his return at newbury was as expected - This Guineas trial is well known for not producing winners at Newmarket, but the last horse to do the double was trained by Henry Cecil, back in 1976, Such has been the hype about Frankel this year that he reportedly outpaced a Newmarket-to-Cambridge passenger trainer earlier in the year. His credentials were there for all to see, unbeaten in four starts, which finished with a Group 1 success in the Dewhurst Stakes three weeks after winning the Group 2 Royal Lodge by an impressive ten lengths. Said to not have grown a great deal during the winter, which isn´t surprising considering his size at two, the one worry with him was whether this big, strong colt would settle and give himself a chance of running a race. Connections had taken the step of employing a pacemaker in Picture Editor, who had proved himself to be a talented performer as a juvenile. He seemed guaranteed to make this a decent test considering he was proven over at least 1m (he was one of the second favourites for the Derby before his Zetland Stakes defeat), but even he couldn´t hang on for as long as some may have thought, because Frankel was in the lead inside the 3f marker. Tom Queally looked to be racing a bit more freely than he´d have wanted, but his mount saw off the rival that dared to eyeball him and put up a workmanlike, if not spectacular, performance. Bookmakers shortened his price for the Guineas a fraction (his Derby odds unsurprisingly remained roughly the same), and it´s definitely worth remembering that this victory came when Henry Cecil´s horses had appeared to be needing the run.

Judged on this performance alone, he doesn´t look the type to thrive at much further than a mile, if anything he looks capable of holding his own at sprinting trips, much like his dam.  The winning time was quicker than the Fred Darling, which had eight more runners in it.


BREEDING ANALYSIS: Trying to divine what distance Frankel will eventually excel over from his pedigree is a difficult task, as it emits mixed messages. He is by champion European sire Galileo, who flourished over 1m4f in the Epsom and Irish Derbys and was famously outsped by Fantastic Light over 1m2f in the Irish Champion Stakes. However, Galileo has shown at stud that he is capable of siring progeny who excel over shorter trips than he did, including with Group 1-winning milers Nightime and Rip Van Winkle, and New Approach, who was second in the Newmarket and Curragh 2,000 Guineas before landing the Derby.

Frankel´s dam, Kind, a daughter of Danehill and Lancashire Oaks winner Rainbow Lake, was a dual Listed winner over 5-6f but was a half-sister to Powerscourt (by Galileo´s sire Sadler´s Wells),who won the Arlington Million (1m2f), Tattersalls Gold Cup (1m2½f) and Great Voltigeur (1m4f). Frankel has a similar profile to last season´s Irish Derby and Irish Champion Stakes winner Cape Blanco, who is also by Galileo and out of a useful sprinter.

The puzzle is made even more difficult by the fact that Frankel´s three-parts brother Bullet Train (by Sadler´s Wells) lost his form, though it looked as though he would excel over middle distances when winning the 1m3½f Lingfield Derby Trial last year.