Frankel

How much of a risk?

A fatal injury is a relatively rare occurance in a flat racehorse and I suspect that Juddmonte can afford the insurance premium allbeit a little pricier than the extended warranty people take out on their washing machines (fools that they are!)

Frankel's stud fee is sorted now. If they ramp it up so high that it reflects style not substance, then it will only come back and bite them on the backside in years 2 and 3 and I think they are cleverer than that. If he gets beaten over a mile and a quarter then the fee won't be significantly altered. I personally am not a great believer in the cult of the miler as a sire. I feel that a sprinter/miler or a horse that stays further is historically a better bet so I would be keen to confirm more stamina in Frankel.

Ofcourse my block booking of 5 mares is heavily dependant on this. . .

Juddmonte are in a fortunate position. They stand one of the top 3 sires in the land (the highest fee too) who is only middle aged. They have an operation that is pretty certain to keep producing them too.

They will never breed another horse as good as Frankel, they will never get such pleasure from a trip to the races and they will never have any of my money worries. If I was them I would be giving more than a little consideration to running him next year too.

Prince Khalid is 70+ remember, this fantastic trip he's taking won't be repeated.

With Frankel's racecourse achievements of high class consistency already up there with all time greats & a stud fee in six figures by invitation only ... I'm a little bit frustrated that they are not coming out of his comfort zone in terms of competition. The step up to 10f should suit and his other two scheduled races he won last season and dare we say it, he's not really faced a new challenge since last seasons magnificent win in the sussex and its starting to look a very insular campaign in the era of international travel which has never been challenged given the reverence his trainer commands. Would it really matter if he got beat taking on a new population of horses, perhaps in the far east or in the land of person who he is named after (having already missed what would have been his Dubai World Cup) although the Prince probably less keen after Warning and Dancing Brave experiences

Unquestionably a brilliant horse!Imperious in his victory,I did think St Nicholas Abbey would beat him today....what a fool!And what a stallion prospect he's going to be.What fee do you all think he will start off at?Sea the Stars kicked off at 85k I could see Frankel at 100k and with a fantastic book of top class mares.Hopefully Zarkava!

Far from an expert but I'll go GBP100k or maybe even "Private" even in his 1st season

Is his fee going to be that relevant. Supply will out strip demand at whatever entry point they set. How many mares will he cover? Will it be restricted to 100 outside mares or be a book of 120 including in house mares? I guess how fertile he is will set that agenda.

I am guesing the big powerhouses will do deals and exchanges on stallion covers. I would be thinking for commercial breeders there are going to be less than 40 places open so it will be a major shock if less than 100k.

Frankel, the best i've seen by a long way, but despite that and the fact he will get the very best mares i have a strong feeling he will flop at stud, neck on the line in print i dont believe he will be a super sire like his father

was spectatular

now out of interest how good would ur mare need to be to go too him next year??

gr 123 listed or just get lucky???

i think price will be lower than od too start with and they will pick the mares they want from outside.

going private is a good idea for them as then no one really knows what price /deals etc

a question i have been wondering his how many non juddmonte mares will frankel cover, being by galileo out of a danehill he wont suit a good number but there will be well in excess of 150 blueblooded juddmonte mare waiting to be covered by the superstar and even tho juddmonte are quiet commrical in the view of breeders them dont go to the sales and are unaffected by sales results much more than coolmore and darley. so how may of the aga khans mares will get into frankels book, and same for coolmore and darley, they all want a piece but will juddmonte make them all pay.

STS stood for 85 in his 1st year at the aga khans giltown stud and had support from a great book across the board from many big studs and smaller boutique studs but it was never an opyion to fill his book with aga khan horses and Tsui mares, so maybe juddmonte will push the price to 180k and only take maybe 20 outside mares, so a max of 20 of frankels 1st crop make the various sales, i could see them all making money like STS and with a resurgant economy maybe more.

would love a bit of thoughts and comments from the more knowlegable heads on here.

. My thoughts on Frankel give at least a little to the credence of him as a freak. I would dream about getting a mare to him ofcourse, but I do wonder that his phenomenal talent just won't sit very well with the broodmare who is a mere mortal.

I always say on here that you can't reinvent the wheel and you need to chip away at your improvements not try and change the world, which is sort of what you are hoping to do if you use Frankel.

Juddmonte is a well run operation. They won't **** things up with Frankel's book structure and there will be plenty made available for their usual clients. Ofcourse not everyone will get one, but there are only a certain ammount of people playing at that level and he isn't going to take many mares off his daddy!

Juddmonte will send a hand picked bunch to him in 2013 but they will look to spread the mares they fancy for him throughout his first four books. If they think him a good prospect () then they will think him a good prospect untill he delivers or otherwise on the track there is no need to flood their mares into him in year one as a commercial operation is wont to do.

The Aga Khan's studs never 'flood' outside stallions and place a strict limit on the number of mares they send to any one stallion so they aren't a factor. Coolmore have 'free' access to Big G so they aren't really a factor particularly given that they don't like using outside stallions and their broodmare band is hevily Sadlers/Danehill saturated anyway.

The Arabs have plenty of mares that would suit, but they won't go mad as after all if you are looking to breed for the track you shouldn't really touch unproven anyway!

I'm not so sure that the fee will be as high as some here think. Yes Sea the Stars stood for 85k euro, but he is a half brother to the best in the world. Surely you'd want to send a mare to him before Frankel

I would think Frankel should be higher priced than STS. A much speedier type by a stallion that has had good results with his sons so far. I would say £100 - £120k and he will be mobbed.