Has anyone heard which of the main opponents entered are likely to run ? I gather Excelebration runs but not sure that So You think would have the pace for a kick off....

O'Brien duo set to take on Frankel

IRISHRACING.COM

Frankel tops nine six-day acceptors for the Group 1, JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday and is likely to be joined in the field by stablemate Bullet Train.

He will act as pacemaker for Sir Henry Cecil's brilliant and unbeaten colt who confirmed his wellbeing with a good piece of work at Newmarket on Saturday.


Aidan O'Brien looks sure to field the biggest threat to the favourite with Excelebration and So You Think (very unlikely to take part) still in the race, along with another potential pacemaker in Windsor Palace.


Strong Suit and Dubawi Gold could both represent Richard Hannon and the Charlie Hills pair of Ransom Note and Red Jazz complete the field.


O'Brien said of Excelebration: "He's fine. He's a very relaxed horse and good enough to compete. Marco Botti did a great job with him, but he's a year older and has strengthened up.


"It will be interesting taking on Frankel and if you know his achilles heel, I wish you'd let me know!"


O'Brien has also left in multiple Group One winner So You Think, but has confirmed he is highly unlikely to take part.


"We gave him a bit of a break after Dubai and we'll wait a bit longer with him. He'll probably run in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh (May 27)," said the trainer


The Ballydoyle team have a third entry in likely pacemaker Windsor Palace.

Steve Mellish talks to Sir Henry Cecil http://bit.ly/IU9XoQ

3.40 NEWBURY JLT Lockinge Stakes (British Champions Series) (Group 1) (CLASS 1) (4yo+) Winner £99,243 CH4
Good To Soft 1m Number of runners: 7

£175,000 guaranteed For 4yo+ Weights colts and geldings 9st; fillies 8st 11lb Entries 20 pay £ 600 Confirmed 9 pay £ 500 Penalty value 1st £99,242.50 2nd £37,625.00 3rd £18,830.00 4th £9,380.00 5th £4,707.50 6th £2,362.50

STANDARD CARDAT-A-GLANCE CARDODDS COMPARISONLATEST SHOWSNO. DRAW  HORSE  AGE  WGT  TRAINER RTF%  JOCKEY  OR  TS  RPR

1(5)  55/78-  Bullet Train 217   5 9-0 Sir Henry Cecil 33  Ian Mongan  106  69 124
bay horse Sadler´s Wells (USA) — Kind (IRE) (Danehill (USA))

K Abdulla

  DATE RACE CONDITIONS WGT RACE OUTCOME JOCKEY OR TS RPR
15Oct11    Asc 8Gd C1G1 567K  9-3 8/8 (12L Frankel 9-0) 150/1  Ian Mongan  106 * *
14Apr11    Nmk 9GF C1G3 28K  8-12 7/7 (23L Ransom Note 8-12) 16/1  Tom Queally  109 * *
22Sep10    Goo 10GF C1L 19K  8-11 5/5 (7¼L Holberg 9-0) 5/1  Tom Queally  109 * *
28Aug10    Wdr 12Sft C1L 19K  8-13 5/7 (4¼L Whispering Gallery 9-2) 4/1  Tom Queally  108 * *
18Jun10    Asc 12GF C13yG2 92K  8-12 6/8 (9¼L Monterosso 8-12) 5/1  Tom Queally  109 * *
05Jun10    Eps 12GF C13yG1 771K  9-0 12/12 (38L Workforce 9-0) 13/2  Tom Queally  109 * *



2(2)  444-04  Dubawi Gold 22   4 9-0 Richard Hannon 48  Jimmy Fortune  117  112 135
bay colt Dubawi (IRE) — Savannah Belle (Green Desert (USA))

Andrew Tinkler

27Apr12    San 8Hy C1G2 45K  9-0 4/6 (18L Penitent 9-0) 5/2  J Murtagh  117 * *
10Mar12    Mey 9Gd G1 116K  9-0 10/14 (8¾L Master Of Hounds 9-0) 8/1  Richard Hughes  117 * *
11Dec11    Sha 8GF G1 941K  8-13 4/14 (1L Able One 9-0) 102/1  Richard Hughes  — * *
15Oct11    Asc 8Gd C1G1 567K  9-0 4/8 (7¾L Frankel 9-0) 28/1  J Murtagh  117 * *
11Sep11    Lon 8VSft G1 221K  8-11 4/8 (3L Excelebration 8-11) 11/2  Richard Hughes  — * *
27Aug11    Goo 8GS C1G2 56K  8-9 1/7 (½L Set The Trend 9-1) 3/1  Richard Hughes  117 * *



3(7)  3112-1  Excelebration 27   4 9-0 A P O´Brien 59  J P O'Brien  126  119 143
bay colt Exceed And Excel (AUS) — Sun Shower (IRE) (Indian Ridge)

D Smith, Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor

22Apr12    Cur 7Sft G3 32K  9-7 1/6 (3¼L Croisultan 9-1) 2/7F  J P O'Brien  126 * *
15Oct11    Asc 8Gd C1G1 567K  9-0 2/8 (4L Frankel 9-0) 6/1  Jamie Spencer  126 * *
11Sep11    Lon 8VSft G1 221K  8-11 1/8 (1½L Rio De La Plata 9-2) 11/8F  Jamie Spencer  — * *
13Aug11    Nby 7Gd C1G2 45K  8-13 1/9 (6L Beacon Lodge 9-3) 5/4F  Adam Kirby  117 * *
14Jun11    Asc 8Gd C13yG1 141K  9-0 3/9 (2¼L Frankel 9-0) 10/1  Adam Kirby  116 * *
22May11    Col 8Sft 3yG2 86K  9-2 1/11 (7L Gereon 9-2) 21/10F  Adam Kirby  — * *



4(6)  11111-  Frankel 217   4 9-0 Sir Henry Cecil 33  Tom Queally  136  122 153
bay colt Galileo (IRE) — Kind (IRE) (Danehill (USA))

K Abdulla

15Oct11    Asc 8Gd C1G1 567K  9-0 1/8 (4L Excelebration 9-0) 4/11F  Tom Queally  135 * *
27Jul11    Goo 8Gd C1G1 170K  8-13 1/4 (5L Canford Cliffs 9-7) 8/13F  Tom Queally  130 * *
14Jun11    Asc 8Gd C13yG1 141K  9-0 1/9 (¾L Zoffany 9-0) 30/100F  Tom Queally  130 * *
30Apr11    Nmk 8GF C13yG1 198K  9-0 1/13 (6L Dubawi Gold 9-0) 1/2F  Tom Queally  126 * *
16Apr11    Nby 7GF C13yG3 28K  9-0 1/6 (4L Excelebration 9-0) 1/4F  Tom Queally  126 * *
16Oct10    Nmk 7GS C12yG1 180K  9-1 1/6 (2¼L Roderic O'Connor 9-1) 4/6F  Tom Queally  123 * *



5(3)  5188-9  Ransom Note 30   5 9-0 Charles Hills 73  Kieren Fallon  115  125 132
bay horse Red Ransom (USA) — Zacheta (Polish Precedent (USA))

H R Mould

19Apr12    Nmk 9GS C1G3 31K  9-3 9/9 (18½L Questioning 8-12) 5/1  Michael Hills  116 * *
11Dec11    Sha 10GF G1 941K  9-0 8/10 (5¾L California Memory 9-0) 161/1  Michael Hills  — * *
15Oct11    Asc 10Gd C1G1 737K  9-3 8/12 (9¼L Cirrus Des Aigles 9-3) 40/1  Michael Hills  117 * *
23Sep11    Nmk 8GF C1G2 56K  9-3 1/7 (2¼L Premio Loco 9-3) 4/1  Michael Hills  113 * *
14Aug11    Dea 10Hy G3 34K  9-1 5/7 (19L Cirrus Des Aigles 9-4) 10/1  Michael Hills  — * *
23Jul11    Yor 10Gd C1G2 56K  9-2 2/7 (1¼L Twice Over 9-5) 12/1  Michael Hills  114 * *



6(1)  13110-  Strong Suit 196   4 9-0 Richard Hannon 48  Richard Hughes  123  131 140
chestnut colt Rahy (USA) — Helwa (USA) (Silver Hawk (USA))

Qatar Racing Limited

05Nov11    Chu 8Fm G1 692K  8-11 10/13 (10L Court Vision 9-0) 13/2  Richard Hughes  — * *
08Oct11    Nmk 7Gd C1G2 45K  9-5 1/8 (4½L Chachamaidee 9-0) 13/8F  Richard Hughes  118 * *
26Jul11    Goo 7Gd C1G2 79K  8-9 1/9 (1½L Red Jazz 9-2) 5/2F  Richard Hughes  116 * *
03Jul11    Cha 8Gd 3yG1 197K  9-2 3/7 (¼L Mutual Trust 9-2) 9/2  Richard Hughes  — * *
15Jun11    Asc 7Gd C13yG3 39K  9-6 1/9 (½L New Deerfield 9-1) 11/1  Richard Hughes  113 * *
16Apr11    Nby 7GF C13yG3 28K  9-0 6/6 (13L Frankel 9-0) t 9/2  Richard Hughes  113 * *



7(4)  55-031  Windsor Palace 12 v1   7 9-0 A P O´Brien 59  Seamie Heffernan  104  79 121
bay horse Danehill Dancer (IRE) — Simaat (USA) (Mr Prospector (USA))

D Smith, Mrs J Magnier, M Tabor

07May12    Cur 10Sft G3 39K  9-3 1/7 (1L St Nicholas Abbey 9-8) b 66/1  C O'Donoghue  99 * *
22Apr12    Cur 7Sft G3 32K  9-1 3/6 (4L Excelebration 9-7) b 25/1  Seamie Heffernan  94 * *
25Mar12    Cur 8Y Hc 30K  9-2 13/18 (30L Sharestan 9-4) b 10/1  J P O'Brien  95 * *
17Aug11    Yor 10GS C1G1 396K  9-5 5/5 (35L Twice Over 9-5) 100/1  Seamie Heffernan  97 * *
22May11    Cur 11Gd G1 112K  9-1 5/5 (25L So You Think 9-1) 100/1  J P O'Brien  97 * *
02May11    Cur 10GF G3 40K  9-1 6/6 (22L So You Think 9-6) 25/1  J P O'Brien  97 * *

http://betfred.chromaagency.com

Joseph O'Brien has expressed his excitement as he prepared to take the ride aboard Excelebration in the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

The four-year-old finished behind Frankel on three occasions last term, winning his other three starts for Italian trainer Marco Botti, and renews rivalry with his old foe at the Berkshire track.

The Exceed And Excel colt joined Aidan O'Brien over the winter and made an impressive start for new connections by landing the Gladness Stakes at the Curragh under the trainer's son, Joseph, who retains the ride at Newbury.

"It will be the first time I've ridden against Frankel and he is obviously a great horse, so I'm looking forward to it," said the jockey.

"Excelebration won very well in the Curragh and you'd like to think he'll improve for that as it was his first run of the year. He's obviously stepping up from a Group Three to a Group One race against Frankel, so he'll have to improve.

"We just go into the race knowing our horse is in good form and we'll just do our best and see what happens. He's versatile ground-wise and hopefully he'll run a big race."

Richard Hannon is keeping a careful eye on the weather as his prime contender, Strong Suit, needs quicker conditions to excel. The four-year-old was largely campaigned over seven furlongs in 2011 but proved his aptitude for a mile when third in the Prix Jean Prat.

"He loves top of the ground. We've declared him with that proviso. He's fine," said the trainer.

"At his best he'd want the ground to be good, fast ground. If there's any soft in it he wont run. We're happy with him and to start him off at Newbury if the ground is OK.

"If he doesn't run on Saturday he'll probably wait for the Queen Anne at Ascot


Jockey Tom Queally has expressed his excitement ahead of Frankel's eagerly awaited return to action in the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

Queally has been aboard Frankel for each of his nine victories and was delighted with the colt's recent racecourse gallop at Newmarket.

He said: "It was just good to get him out on a racecourse and get him to see something different. It's not that he's difficult to ride, he's just a bit keen and he's got such a big stride, you are a passenger on him."

He went on: "If you look at him now he's so strong - he's a bull now this year.

"You can't break his big stride and that's why he's in control.

"I'm looking forward to it and it looks like he could open his account again and keep the ball rolling."

The ground at Newbury is still riding on the soft side, and with more showers forecast, it could ease further.

That would not worry Queally, though, who said: "He won his debut in very testing conditions and he's strong enough to get through it

Connections of Frankel believe the superstar colt will have to bring his "A-game" to the table if he is to land the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

The four-year-old carried all before him for trainer Sir Henry Cecil last season, ending the term undefeated in five starts, which included victories in the 2000 Guineas, the Sussex Stakes and the QEII Stakes.

He is a short-priced favourite to make a victorious return in the Group One event at the Berkshire venue. Although most consider the result a foregone conclusion, owner Khalid Abdullah's racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, feels the Galileo colt must be at his best to triumph.

"There is no such thing as a gimme in this sport, so hopefully he'll bring his A-game to the table. You either bring your best or you don't bother at all." Grimthorpe said.

"What we want to see is a good, solid performance and this is obviously the first stepping-stone on what we hope will be a very good year. His style is his own and we are all very conscious that we have something pretty extraordinary on our hands."

At one stage in April, it looked as though Frankel may never race again after rumours abounded about the severity of a leg injury he sustained on the Newmarket gallops.

But after thorough investigation, it transpired the problem was only minor and Frankel has barely looked back since.Cecil took the chance to prove his well-being with a racecourse workout at Newmarket on 2000 Guineas day.

"The scans we did on his leg were pretty unequivocal and all his work since has been absolutely first class," added Grimthorpe.

"He worked fantastically well when he went to Racecourse Side the other day and hopefully he can prove himself what we know him to be on Saturday."

Grimthorpe told Racing UK: "I think at this stage, if all went well, Henry is leaning towards the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot for his next start and obviously the hope later in the season is that he'll be here (at York) for the Juddmonte International."

Frankel fairytale is a scriptwriter’s dream

http://bit.ly/Kh7Uxk

As he crossed the line just after 3.40pm at Newbury on Saturday afternoon, an effortless five lengths clear of Excelerbration – the second highest rated horse over a mile in the world – a spontaneous sense of joy broke out around the famous old Berkshire racecourse. The prospect of seeing the undefeated Frankel begin his four-year-old campaign had swollen the crowd to double its normal levels for the mid-May Lockinge meeting, and those who had braved the unseasonably chilly weather were not disappointed. He was back, and looking better than ever.

Almost exactly a year ago, the horse had taken his first steps on the racecourse as a three-year-old, with a similar result. Excelebration had been defeated by four lengths on that day as Frankel warmed up for what would be an unforgettable victory in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. On Saturday he confirmed his superiority over his old rival for a fourth time in total but what we saw was a stronger, more mature and more powerful horse than we saw last year, when he won four group one races and had even the most seasoned observers of a notoriously fickle sport reaching for the superlatives.

Yet for those with any hint of an emotional attachment to the sport of racing – an attachment that elevates great racehorses to a higher plane than mere numbers on a betting slip – there was more of a sense of relief than wonder. By overcoming a training injury that set back his preparation for Saturday’s comeback by 10 days, Frankel confirmed that he has not only improved but appears capable of prolonging an unlikely sporting fairytale to the happiest of conclusions.

Reappearances after winter breaks usually find horses at their most vulnerable. Excelebration, reportedly thriving after a transfer to the world’s most powerful stable, that of the Irishman Aidan O’Brien, had already proved his wellbeing ahead of Saturday with a bloodless success on his reappearance at the Curragh the previous month. Until we saw him in action, regardless of an impressive racecourse gallop on 2,000 Guineas day, we had to take Frankel’s wellbeing on trust. If he was ever going to be beaten, we told ourselves, Saturday just might be the day. How wrong we were.

Timeform have already rated Frankel as the best racehorse ever to appear in Europe over a mile and the prospect of him proving his versatility by stepping up in distance to ten furlongs brings with it the very live possibility that by the end of the season he will be rated the best horse that has been seen on this continent since Timeform’s ratings began in 1948. As it stands today, only Sea Bird and Brigadier Gerrard are rated superior.

The seeds of a fairytale

So far the horse has taken everything asked of him in his stride, including the burden, of which he is thankfully unaware, of being the central figure in one of the most extraordinary comeback stories in the history of modern sport. Now and again sport has a capacity for romance that lifts it beyond bar room debate to something more celestial. And in almost three decades following it I haven’t found anything to come close to the story of this horse and the men synonymous with him.

To find its origins we must go back around ten years to the early 2000s. Back then two men, born on different continents 18 months apart, bestrode the sport of kings on each side of the Atlantic. Henry Cecil and Bobby Frankel were at the top of the training ranks in Britain and America respectively. The languid, upper class and seemingly aloof Cecil – privately educated and stepson of the Queen’s trainer – had sent out more Classic winners and more Royal Ascot winners than any Briton in history, and had been crowned champion trainer ten times. Frankel, a streetwise, self-made man from the tough neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York, was about to have the most successful season that any trainer in the world had ever enjoyed by saddling 25 group/grade one winners in 2003 – a record that still stands.

In terms of their backgrounds the two men couldn’t have been more different, but they were bound together by common ground: unsurpassed genius in the handling of thoroughbred racehorses; and the patronage of one of the world’s most powerful owners – Prince Khalid Abdulla, the founder of Juddmonte Farms. While Abdulla sent horses to other trainers in Europe and the USA, there was no doubt that Cecil and Frankel were number one. All of this was about to be threatened.

Decline and death

At around the time that Bobby Frankel was breaking records in the USA, Cecil’s private and professional life began to unravel. The very public breakdown of his second marriage, which scandalised British racing, was beginning to take its toll. The winners began to dry up as he descended into borderline alcoholism, punctuated by a conviction for drink driving after he injured two elderly pedestrians. His twin brother David lost a battle against cancer and, as Cecil was diagnosed with the disease himself, the winners dried up – and so did the patronage of some of his once-loyal owners and breeders.

Cecil’s nadir came in 2005. A man used to sending out up to 200 winners per season registered just 12. On Derby day, while the great and good of European racing were saddling their bluebloods at Epsom Downs, Cecil was preparing a runner to race at Catterick, one of the relative backwaters of British racing. As far as ignominy goes, it was the equivalent of Laurence Olivier appearing second on the bill at a pantomime in Blackpool on Oscar night.

Throughout all of this Abdulla remained loyal to his trainer and by 2007 Cecil’s name began featuring more frequently again in the racing press and in betting shops up and down the country when plenty of observers had already concluded that it had disappeared for good. Two Abdulla-owned horses, – Twice Over and Midday – played central roles in Cecil’s rise. But over in America, tragedy was about to strike.

Bobby Frankel died in November 2009 at the age of 68 after an ill-fated but spirited fight with leukaemia. Racing in America was plunged into mourning and the news particularly saddened Abdulla. More than anyone the Brooklyn boy had enabled the Saudi prince to make a success of his breeding operation in America. The likes of Empire Maker, Sightseek and Beat Hollow (sent to Frankel from Cecil’s stable as the Englishman’s career nosedived) provided Abdulla and his trainer with some of the most memorable moments of their careers. As he sat at Frankel’s funeral that autumn, Abdulla formulated a plan for a lasting tribute to his stricken trainer.

A safe bet would have been a statue. In the end Abdulla decided on a far riskier, but potentially much more poignant and far reaching-honour. He decided to name his most promising yearling of 2009 after the American in the hope that the Frankel name could be further immortalised on the racetrack and then in the breeding stables. Even the most optimistic of those closest to him didn’t expect the strategy to work.

The breeding of racehorses and their graduation to the track is a notoriously tricky process. Those with the most regal of pedigrees often disappoint, as the ultra-knowledgeable connections of Snaafi Dancer and The Green Monkey will attest to. The former cost Sheikh Mohammed $10.2 million at auction in 1983 and never saw a racecourse, while the latter cost O’Brien’s backers at Coolmore Stud $16 million in 2006 and never won a race. Abdulla himself breeds and purchases close to 200 yearlings a year. Identifying the one that might one day do Bobby Frankel’s memory justice appeared to be as difficult as choosing some lottery numbers.

Tribute and redemption

In the end Abdulla and his advisors settled on a striking son of Galileo, the world’s most successful sire, and one of his former race mares, Kind. It was a pedigree that blended speed and stamina, but more than a fair share of luck would be needed for it to win a race at the highest level. For it to prove to be a lasting tribute to his namesake would require a miracle. As for it becoming the world’s top rated horse, and potentially the greatest ever to grace a racecourse – talk of that would only result in a visit from the men in white coats.

Cecil had displayed a toughness and resilience in his own fight with cancer and his dwindling fortunes that belied his demeanour. Unlikely as it may have seemed to those that had followed his career and his life, he had shown Bobby Frankel qualities that his late friend across the Atlantic would have respected. Whether it was this, or simply Abdulla’s unwavering faith that Cecil’s genius as a trainer had not deserted him, that led the owner to send the young horse to Cecil’s Newmarket base, is an answer that only Abdulla and those closest to him know.

It was a decision that has not just paid dividends in terms of unprecedented performances on the track. It has created a sporting story that, having already exceeded our wildest dreams, will reach its conclusion over the coming months. So far, the horse and his trainer have followed the script to the letter. Frankel is undoubtedly an equine one-off, but he has not been without flaws. His headstrong nature once provided a threat to his extraordinary talent, but he has been both instinctively and fastidiously handled by Cecil, who has a 24-hour CCTV feed from Frankel’s box to his bedroom.

In a sport where disappointment far outweighs success, where you lose a lot more than you win, Frankel looks to be unbeatable, and, if his trainer is to be believed, is still improving. Cecil appears to be in remission from the disease that killed both his brother and the horse’s namesake, and his career has been rejuvenated.

Along with the legacy-sealing kudos of training what is looking with every passing appearance as the greatest racehorse the world has seen, ultimate redemption for the quintessentially English Cecil came late last year with a knighthood from The Queen. Without the unlikely renaissance that has been completed by this horse, it is doubtful he would have ever made it to Buckingham Palace to accept recognition that his career as a whole deserves. Despite all the earlier success, his story would probably have been footnoted with his spectacular fall from grace.

The knighthood was an honour that Bobby Frankel, a New Yorker with little time for old world traditions, airs or graces, would have probably eschewed. But you can’t help thinking that his spirit, somewhere, helped to make it happen. How else do you explain the unexplainable?

No Irish Champion bid for Frankel
(UKPA) – 5 hours ago 
Sir Henry Cecil feels the Red Mills Irish Champion Stakes does not fit into Frankel's schedule after taking the superstar colt out of the Leopardstown Group One.
The four-year-old son of Galileo stretched his unbeaten record to 10 races with a devastating performance in the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.
Frankel will not, however, take up an assignment in Ireland on September 8, for which stablemate Twice Over is still one of 50 entries.
Cecil told the Guardian: "It's a great race and everything, but it's not in his programme.
"If, say, he's going to go for the Sussex Stakes (Goodwood, August 1) and then the Juddmonte (York, August 22), then he can't run in that, too.
"We can't enter him in everything."

The Same Day I'll Have Another Conquered Pimlico, England's Frankel Won No. 10 in a Row .

By PIA CATTON http://online.wsj.com

On Monday, the British Horseracing Authority made a statement. In case you missed it, it said the British horse Frankel, which won Saturday's Lockinge Stakes in Newbury, England, had achieved a numerical performance rating of 138.

Here's all you need to know about that number: It makes Frankel the greatest living racehorse in the world—and the best in at least 25 years.

In fact, if you consider all of the quirks of that rating, which is a subjective figure devised by handicappers, you could argue that 138 makes Frankel one of the best racehorses ever.

There's no denying Frankel's talent. The 4-year-old colt has won 10 races with no defeats. The two words Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia uses to describe him are "unbelievable" and "spectacular."

But also on Saturday, as you might have heard, Kentucky Derby winner I'll Have Another made a gutsy surge in the stretch to win the Preakness Stakes and set up a run for the Triple Crown on June 9 at Belmont Park. In doing so, the horse received a Beyer speed figure of 109, the highest for a Preakness winner since Curlin earned a 111 in 2007.

This contrast of events points to one of the most frustrating idiosyncrasies of the sport of horse racing: The enormous practical and cultural gulf that exists between America and Europe.

Because of the variety of distances, surfaces and ratings systems in play on the two continents, it's almost impossible to know for sure which horse is really the best in the world. And even if I'll Have Another wins the Triple Crown, it's highly unlikely that he will ever get a shot at challenging Frankel in some sort of heavyweight unification bout.

Frankel is owned by Prince Khalid Abdulla, who also owned Dancing Brave, the last horse to achieve a rating similar to Frankel's. To date, he's raced exclusively on turf, at distances of a mile or less. I'll Have Another, like most top American horses, was trained primarily to run on dirt, the surface of the Triple Crown races—and all of those races are longer than a mile.

Teddy Grimthorpe, the racing manager for Juddmonte Farms, which bred Frankel, said that even if they did ship the horse to the U.S. for the Breeders' Cup weekend in November, the horse would likely be entered in the Breeders' Cup Mile—a turf race—rather than the Classic, which is run on dirt at 1¼ miles, the same surface and distance as the Derby. Grimthorpe said it would be "highly unlikely" that the horse would run in the Classic, "which would be the ultimate race to take him to."

If a meeting between the horses took place, who would win? Battaglia, the oddsmaker, said I'll Have Another is not as proven as Frankel. But if I'll Have Another wins the Triple Crown, he added, "then you could talk about it. It would be something I'd like to see."

Though the British Horseracing Authority ranking system is not as disreputable as, say, the metric system, people familiar with the horse game say Frankel would have a lot to prove if measured against American horses.

"There is almost no correlation between being a great turf miler and a great dirt miler," said Barry Weisbord, president of Thoroughbred Daily News.

Frankel hasn't always turned in staggering times. Although he crushed the field in Saturday's Lockinge Stakes by five lengths, his finish time of 1:38:14 for the mile was slower than the final time for the winner of the same race the previous two years.

Racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe says Frankel hasn't been pushed to race at a distance longer than eight furlongs for an obvious reason. "He was doing so well at the mile and winning, so why would you change that?" Grimthorpe said. "No one measures up to him. I mean no one. At a mile, he is something else."

Battaglia, the handicapper, said he doesn't need any more convincing when it comes to Frankel. "If you haven't lost a race, it doesn't really matter what the margins are."

European horses have dominated the Breeders' Cup Turf in recent years, winning six of the last seven runnings. The French mare Goldikova also won the Breeders' Cup Mile three consecutive times from 2008 to 2010.

But in the Breeders' Cup Classic, run at the 1¼ mile distance on the main track, Europe-based horses have only won twice in 28 years. The British horse Raven's Pass won in 2008, but that race was run on a synthetic track more similar to a grass course than traditional American dirt. The other European Classic winner, Arcangues, is the biggest long shot to ever win a Breeders Cup race at 133-1.

No European horse has ever won the Kentucky Derby. The Irish-based Daddy Long Legs finished last this year. Likewise, no American horse has ever won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, which is widely considered Europe's most prestigious race.

If you are itching for a showdown between the best horses from each continent, don't abandon hope. Frankel's owners have said they could enter him in an upcoming grass race at Royal Ascot that covers 10 furlongs, the distance of the Derby.

The idea of racing Frankel against America's best has come up. Last year, owner Mike Repole said of his champion colt Uncle Mo: "By the way, I think Uncle Mo would beat Frankel in a one-mile dirt race."

Weisbord is a little more cautious about Europeans. "When they send over their best horses, their best horses win

You will have to refrain chatting to Claire Balding Anaglogs.

Henry Cecil back in fashion as Frankel takes real flair to Royal Ascot

Royal Ascot's top trainer to saddle world's best racehorse but also harbours ambitions of a sideline in luxury tailoring

Chris Cook at Newmarket

guardian.co.uk, Sunday 17 June 2012


Before Frankel returns to the track on Tuesday, as an unimprovable opening act for this week's Royal Ascot, it may please the colt's followers to know that talk of his mellowing has been overplayed. The smart thing to say about him, officially the best racehorse in the world, is that he has become a professional in his third season but his trainer, Sir Henry Cecil, reports that a certain amount of rock star behaviour persists.

"He's always smashing his box up," says Cecil, whose career tally of 73 wins at the Royal meeting is a record, 10 more than anyone else with a licence. "He breaks mangers and things like that. He's very hot-blooded.

"You can think it's a cold evening and you put a light under-rug on him and you find at 10 o'clock at night that he's tried to pull the rug over his head, which is dangerous. He can get tangled up and break his neck or a leg. So you have to watch him."

Cecil himself is the picture of refinement, his lean frame folded languidly into a wooden chair in the garden of his Warren Place stable, but his composure must sometimes have been troubled by the additional concerns that Frankel has brought into his life. Security cameras are in place, not just so that the horse can be saved from himself but also as an aid in spotting fans who have somehow found their way on to the premises. "People are inclined to wander in and suddenly … who the hell?

"'We've come to have a look at Frankel.'

"Well, you can't look at Frankel. He wants to be left in peace."

Cecil has made a priority of teaching Frankel to settle in his races, so it was with chagrin that he watched the horse at last year's Royal meeting, when his jockey, Tom Queally, fired him up in mid-race, though only the pacemaker was ahead of him.

"I don't think I've ever been so annoyed in my life," the trainer recalls. "To me, it was an absolute disaster. I hate even thinking about it; I want to forget. The horse did very well to get through it."

Frankel passed his pacemaker around the home turn but had been used up prematurely and was drunk with fatigue in the final furlong, winning by less than a length instead of his usual four or five. Did the famously urbane Cecil direct any harsh words at his jockey?

"I explained that we'd have to do something different in future. The damage was done. It was not very funny.

"But it's almost forgotten and Tom has got to know the horse and is riding very well now. He rides beautifully, he's got his confidence in every way. It's just one of those things. We all make mistakes. I've made hundreds in my life."

Cecil is good at modesty but there is little evidence of actual self-doubt. He is clear about his plan for Frankel's final year – Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday, Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, Juddmonte at York, Champion Stakes at Ascot – and is not the least impressed by other suggestions.

"I've tried to do, all the way through, what's best for him. I've read everything, what I should do and what I shouldn't do, what I haven't done and what people would have me do: having settled him down, bring him back [in distance] and make him into a sprinter and this, that and the other. I don't take any notice of that."

Frankel aside, he has other classy animals to run this week – Thomas Chippendale and Noble Mission on Friday, Stipulate and Wrotham Heath on Thursday. In Wednesday's Windsor Forest, he will field Chachamaidee, who "accelerated like a Frankel" to win at Lingfield. But, though he will have at least one runner, he will miss Saturday's action in favour of giving away his step-daughter at her wedding.

At the age of 69, six years after his stomach cancer was discovered, Cecil appears happy and much healthier than in the most difficult months of his treatment. Chemotherapy continues "more for maintenance at the moment. I don't seem to ever get tired. I'm here. Another day's another day.

"You've always got to be careful and eat very carefully. But so far, touch wood, I'm all right. I'm not saying I'm cured.

"That really hard chemotherapy was difficult. I never had a day off and you could hardly walk. The next day, I'd have to drag myself on to the Heath.

"Now, you might feel a bit funny for two or three days. I don't think of my health. I think it's the worst thing you can do." He pulls a mock-fretful face, mouths an agonised: 'Am I all right?' "Just keep looking forward. Got to."

Can he foresee a time when he will want to give up the day job? "I think I will. I will. Not quite yet. I enjoy it, it's a way of life. I think maybe I would cut down a bit.

"I'd love to be able to have more time doing other things. I'm very interested in clothes. I've got a great friend who's a tailor in London and I'm thinking of starting my own clothes design.

"I like really well-cut clothes and cashmere jackets with floral linings and all those sort of things. I think lots of the clothes people buy nowadays are not very exciting. I've got a sports jacket, chocolate herringbone, which is half cashmere and half mink, so it's not something you're going to find in Woolworths.

"I'm like a shopaholic, really. I love shopping. A lot of men, they don't like shopping, they head to the shops the night before Christmas.

"I could shop all week from nine o'clock in the morning until seven o'clock at night in London – doesn't matter if it's for women's clothes or pictures or books, it doesn't matter what it is, I enjoy it, which is not actually normal for a man. I feel I might have female hormones."

He would retire, he says, if Frankel's owner, Khalid Abdullah, stopped sending him horses. That, however, is not likely to happen, since Abdullah kept faith with him even through the lean times of 2005, when Cecil had just a dozen winners.

"I enjoy training his type of horses. I was very late-maturing and backward. Stupid as a child and everything. First one from my prep school ever to fail Common Entrance to Eton. School had been going 90 years or so.

"I'd like to think I was late-maturing and I like those sort of horses. And his horses, a lot of them are just taking a bit of time but they're worth waiting for, you know?"

@HaylerWill

HRAC on Frankel: "He went out walking and trotting yesterday and seems fine. I think it's more likely he'll go to Goodwood and then to York"

3.10 GOODWOOD

Qipco Sussex Stakes (British Champions Series) (Group 1) (CLASS 1) (3yo+) Winner £179,487 CH4
Good 1m Number of runners: 4

1(2) 78-46 BULLET TRAIN 43  5 9-0 111 Ian Mongan
Sir Henry Cecil46 84 118 150/1
bay horse Sadler´s Wells (USA) — Kind (IRE) (Danehill (USA))

K Abdulla

19Jun12    Asc 8GS C1G1 198K  9-0 6/11 (16L Frankel 9-0) 66/1  Ian Mongan  111 * *
19May12    Nby 8Gd C1G1 99K  9-0 4/6 (12L Frankel 9-0) 100/1  Ian Mongan  106 * *
15Oct11    Asc 8Gd C1G1 567K  9-3 8/8 (12L Frankel 9-0) 150/1  Ian Mongan  106 * *
14Apr11    Nmk 9GF C1G3 28K  8-12 7/7 (23L Ransom Note 8-12) 16/1  Tom Queally  109 * *
22Sep10    Goo 10GF C1L 19K  8-11 5/5 (7¼L Holberg 9-0) 5/1  Tom Queally  109 * *
28Aug10    Wdr 12Sft C1L 19K  8-13 5/7 (4¼L Whispering Gallery 9-2) 4/1  Tom Queally  108 * *



2(4) 1-132 FARHH 25  4 9-7 122 Frankie Dettori
Saeed Bin Suroor69 129 135 10/1
bay colt Pivotal — Gonbarda (GER) (Lando (GER))

Godolphin

07Jul12    San 10GS C1G1 241K  9-7 2/9 (½L Nathaniel 9-7) 11/4F  Frankie Dettori  118 * *
20Jun12    Asc 10Gd C1G1 283K  9-0 3/11 (2¾L So You Think 9-0) 6/1  Frankie Dettori  114 * *
05May12    Thi 8GS C2Hc 13K  9-2 1/16 (6L Osteopathic Remedy 8-12) 5/4F  Antioco Murgia  100 * *
29Oct11    Nmk 8Gd C3Hc 8K  8-13 1/20 (2½L Roayh 9-1) 12/1  Silvestre De Sousa  90 * *
24Jul10    Nmk 7GF C42yMd 4K  9-3 1/7 (6L Flodden 9-3) 13/8J  Ted Durcan  — * *



3(3)  111-11 FRANKEL 43  4 9-0 140 Tom Queally
Sir Henry Cecil46 132 149 1/16
bay colt Galileo (IRE) — Kind (IRE) (Danehill (USA))

K Abdulla

19Jun12    Asc 8GS C1G1 198K  9-0 1/11 (11L Excelebration 9-0) 1/10F  Tom Queally  138 * *
19May12    Nby 8Gd C1G1 99K  9-0 1/6 (5L Excelebration 9-0) 2/7F  Tom Queally  136 * *
15Oct11    Asc 8Gd C1G1 567K  9-0 1/8 (4L Excelebration 9-0) 4/11F  Tom Queally  135 * *
27Jul11    Goo 8Gd C1G1 170K  8-13 1/4 (5L Canford Cliffs 9-7) 8/13F  Tom Queally  130 * *
14Jun11    Asc 8Gd C13yG1 141K  9-0 1/9 (¾L Zoffany 9-0) 30/100F  Tom Queally  130 * *
30Apr11    Nmk 8GF C13yG1 198K  9-0 1/13 (6L Dubawi Gold 9-0) 1/2F  Tom Queally  126 * *



4(1)0-7215 GABRIAL 43  3 9-0 108 Paul Hanagan

Richard Fahey62 114 123 50/1
Dr Marwan Koukash 

19Jun12    Asc 8GS C13yG1 167K  9-0 5/16 (4L Most Improved 9-0) 16/1  Jamie Spencer  101 * *
26May12    Hay 8Fm C23yHc 37K  9-1 1/13 (1¾L Lucky Henry 8-7) 9/2  Jamie Spencer  91 * *
10May12    Chs 8Sft C23yHc 14K  9-0 2/7 (¼L Arnold Lane 9-5) 2/1F  Jamie Spencer  89 * *
07Apr12    Mus 8GS C23yHc 31K  9-1 7/12 (4L Chapter Seven 8-11) 8/1  Tony Hamilton  89 * *
14Jun11    Asc 6Gd C12yG2 48K  9-1 20/23 (17½L Power 9-1) 20/1  Paul Hanagan  — * *
28May11    Bev 5GF C22y 9K  9-2 1/5 (½L Cravat 8-12) 6/5F  Paul Hanagan  — * *

By Peter Scargill racingpost.com
30 JUL 2012

FRANKEL will have just a trio of opponents in the Qipco Sussex Stakes for a second year running as he aims to extend his magnificent unbeaten sequence to 12 from 12.

With Frankel having dispatched every challenger put up against him by Aidan O'Brien, the Ballydoyle maestro did not declare any of his three runners, while champion trainer Richard Hannon has diverted Strong Suit to the Prix Maurice de Gheest.

Those absentees mean only Farhh, supplemented for the Group 1 contest by Godolphin, and Gabrial, from the Richard Fahey stable, are outside rivals to Frankel with stablemate Bullet Train also left in the race.

Last year, Frankel took apart a field that included Canford Cliffs, Rio De La Plata and Rajsaman and he is rated 18lb higher than Farhh, 29lb higher than Bullet Train and 32lb higher than Gabrial for this year's race.

Frankel's trainer Sir Henry Cecil says he has been happy with his star since he annihilated his rivals in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

"Everything has gone as we could have wished with Frankel since the Queen Anne Stakes. We gave him an easy time immediately after Royal Ascot before bringing him back into fast work," Cecil told his website.

"He has pleased us with his work and is going to the Sussex Stakes in good shape. We are taking one race at a time with him and are hoping that he can extend his unbeaten record."

However, Cecil will not be present at Goodwood on Wednesday and added: "Unfortunately, I won't be at Goodwood on Wednesday as I have been undergoing some treatment. Although I am able to train my horses I'm not quite fit to go racing yet, but I hope to be fully recovered in the near future."

RP Bloodstock‏@rpbloodstock

Noble Mission becomes 65th Group winner for supersire Galileo and the ninth of those out of a Danehill mare

With group race winning brothers Bullet Train, Noble Mission and the peerless Frankel, the next offspring of dam Kind and addition to the talented family racing is probably on a hiding to nothing.

And two-year-old Morpheus may be a slightly different temporarily from his relatives.

Frankel and Noble Mission, both sons of Galileo, have been highly-strung individuals but Morpheus is more ‘chilled out’ according to Lady Cecil, wife of trainer Sir Henry Cecil.

He is also well named. His sire is Oasis Dream. Morpheus was the God of Dreams who lends his name to the drug Morphine


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-2183978/Clare-Balding-Francesca-Cumani-frame-host-C4-racing-coverage--Marcus-Townend.html#ixzz22iH67YZk

* Frankel.

Breaking news from @Timeform1948 radio, Teddy Grimthorpe confirms the Arc is a serious possibility with the Moulin a prep race for

BHA PRESS OFFICE

An announcement regarding Frankel's official BHA rating after his International success will be made in the morning by @BCSeries and BHA

FRANKEL'S FAMILY ALBUM
October 2012


By Ella Buchan dailystar.co.uk

HE’S insured for a whopping £100million and has more security than Tom Cruise. With an international fan base, glossy locks and a body honed to perfection, people travel far and wide to see him perform.

Unbeaten in 13 races, with earnings in excess of £2.2million, Frankel has been hailed as one of the greatest racehorses of all time.

But as he prepares to hang up his saddle after his final race at the British Champions Day meeting at Ascot on October 20, little is known about the personal life of this extraordinary colt.

The fillies will soon be lining up for the chance to have their own little Frankel, with their owners set to pay around £100,000 a pop in stud fees.

Rod Street, chief executive of horse race organisers British Champions Series, said:

“Frankel is the perfect race horse.

“He possesses speed, power and physical beauty.

“Forget one in a million. He’s one in a billion.”

Here ELLA BUCHAN takes a glimpse into Frankel’s family album, getting all the secrets of the world’s greatest racehorse from those who know him best.

Baby Frankel

FRANKEL was born on February 11, 2008 to mum Kind and dad Galileo – himself a champ with six big wins under his saddle.

He weighed 123lb at birth and stood out from the start.

He spent his early days at Banstead Manor Stud in picturesque Cheveley, near Newmarket in Suffolk.

Now retired, stud groom Jim Power said: “He was a straightforward yet sensitive horse, with a slight air of arrogance about him – really topclass racehorses often have that character.

“I think you have to have character to be a champion, in the same way the best academics, sportsmen or musicians often do. It sets them apart from the norm.”

He added: “I don’t agree with people who say he’s a freak – he lives to run.”

Grown-up, Frankel is the biggest horse in the yard, with size 7 shoes.

With grandad

TRAINER Sir Henry Cecil knows Frankel better than anyone and, to him, he is more than just a racehorse.

The 69-year-old said: “He knows he is special.

He can’t understand it if we bring an owner into the barn he is in and it’s not to see him, so we always have to have a chat and look at him too.

“He is naturally competitive. Frankel is not the easiest horse as he can be quite hyperactive.

“He can also be rather playful in the box and have a nip at you. There’s no harm intended – that’s just him.”

With Tom

JOCKEY Tom Queally, 27, who has won 13 races on Frankel since the thoroughbred began his career in 2010, said: “Frankel is a class apart from everything else in racing. He’s a powerhouse and ultra-competitive, sometimes the biggest problem is getting him to stop!

“I try to treat him like any other racehorse but I can’t help paying him a little more attention. I would like to think I will get to ride another superstar like Frankel at some point in my career but I know it won’t happen.”

At home

FRANKEL wakes at 4.30am every day for breakfast, which is brought by head lass Dee Deacon. His stable at Sir Henry’s yard in Newmarket isn’t anything special but he likes it that way – and refuses to be moved to bigger and better stables.

This down-to-earth horse likes it where he is because he can see what is going on. His team have installed CCTV as an extra security measure – Frankel is one valuable beast.

He eats three times a day and much more than any other horse in the yard – about 23lbs of oats daily. He has to have Canadian oats and English hay – American hay is too rich for him. And he enjoys the odd carrot as a treat.

British wonder horse has won all his 13 races but 'has it all to do' on Saturday, according to the senior handicapper, Phil Smith

Chris Cook

The Guardian, Sunday 14 October 2012


Five days before Frankel's final run is a good time for a reality check. The superstar colt, officially the best in the world, remains unbeaten in 13 career starts and the high-street bookmakers will offer no bigger than 1-7 that he keeps his record intact in the Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.

The sell-out crowd of 32,000 will, for the most part, take victory for granted and will be more interested in seeing the horse than the race, even though Cirrus Des Aigles and Nathaniel are expected to line up against him. But here comes Phil Smith, British racing's senior handicapper, to disabuse everyone of their idle faith.

"This is undoubtedly his stiffest test to date," Smith said on Sunday. "There's no question that these are the best two horses he has taken on and he's got it all to do.

"On soft or heavy going Cirrus Des Aigles is a serious horse. We don't yet know that about Frankel because he hasn't raced on the type of ground we have seen over the past week."

The going at Ascot is soft all round after 5mm of rain on Saturday and Chris Stickels, the clerk of the course, holds out little reason to hope for anything different by the weekend. Showers are forecast for every day and, although the volume is hard to predict, Stickels feels there is a "strong possibility" of soft going when the Champion Stakes is run. It should be no worse than that; Ascot has staged Flat racing on heavy only twice in seven years.

Will Frankel get through the mud? His connections seem sanguine about soft and point out that he has raced on it once before, when holding off Nathaniel by half a length on his debut in 2010. They may withdraw him if the going turns heavy.

"I don't see why he wouldn't cope with it," Smith said. "The thing about soft ground is that it inconveniences some horses, so he might win but whether he can produce the level of performance we've seen from him I don't know."

That matters because, for all Frankel's many impressive displays, Smith is still waiting for the colt to do something so dramatic as to make him the best horse in the recent history of the official ratings. To this point Frankel has achieved a mark of 140, putting him just behind Dancing Brave, who carried the same colours of Khalid Abdulla and scored 141 in 1986.

It is a source of some chagrin to Smith, whose personal feeling is that Frankel really is the best Flat racehorse of his lifetime. "But it's difficult, at the moment, to prove it with the figures."

Frankel will be weighed in the balance for the final time in Hong Kong in December, when the world's senior handicappers meet to agree on definitive figures for this year's runners. His rating could go up at that stage but it could also go down. Bathos is the fear. Most racing fans feel Frankel deserves a better epitaph than "the second-best horse since 1985".

It is "hugely difficult" to make comparisons, Smith says, not least because handicapping has changed in personnel and in method over the past quarter-century. But the main problem is that Frankel has not faced the same quality of opposition that Dancing Brave pushed aside when winning his Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

"There's no question that Dancing Brave ran against better horses than Frankel has met but then he never hammered them in the way that Frankel has. He gave them a start and ran past them.

"That's the difference between these two. One has beaten good horses by a mile, the other beat very good horses by not so far."

Now, in Cirrus Des Aigles and Nathaniel, Frankel faces worthy rivals, though Smith indicates he might still need to beat them by five lengths to get to 141. Does the handicapper regret that Frankel has never been sent abroad in search of greater challenges, as Dancing Brave was?

"No, I want him to run in Britain. This race is shaping up to be the best race in the world this year and that's what I want British racing to have. So let's hope the three of them all turn up in good shape and we'll see what happens."

On Sunday night the Chantilly-based trainer of Cirrus Des Aigles, Corine Barande-Barbe, confirmed that her horse was still on course for the Champion Stakes, having recovered well from his easy win at Longchamp the previous weekend. The two-week gap is not a concern for her, the gelding having won last year's Champion after taking part in the same prep-race.

"He's very well, he returned well from his race," she said. "I hear it's raining there but we don't mind that. Some other horses do mind."

Speaking at Newmarket on Saturday evening, John Gosden said of Nathaniel: "He worked here this morning and he worked nicely, so … one day at a time. Intended runner at this stage."

Asked if really deep ground might put him off, he replied: "No, I don't think so. It's autumn, you accept autumn ground. We'll probably get on and run him if he's in good order.

"It's great, they [Frankel and Nathaniel] had their first race together and, after this, they're both retiring to stud, so it's two bookends."

Frankel's farewell romp



When a legend runs for the final time on Saturday, watching at Ascot will be, Sheikh Fahad, one of racing's major players who three years ago had never even visited a track

Mihir Bose http://www.standard.co.uk 16 October 2012


Saturday’s British Champions Day at Ascot has just about everything. With £3million in prize money it is racing’s ­richest day and will host Frankel’s last race.

There could be no better finale to the flat racing season than for the ­wonder horse to win the Champion Stakes and retire to stud unbeaten but he is up against last year’s winner, Cirrus Des Aigles.

Sheikh Fahad, whose family business QIPCO sponsors the British Champions Series, believes the French gelding could pose Frankel problems.

“It will be an interesting race,” says the member of the Qatar royal family. “If the ground becomes heavy, Cirrus Des Aigles has a chance.”

As I gasp at the thought that Frankel might be beaten, the Sheikh adds: “Maybe Cirrus Des Aigles will come to within two lengths of Frankel. When Frankel is running, there are two races going on: a Frankel race and a race for the rest of the field all scrapping for second. I doubt there’s anything in this world that can beat Frankel.”

The Sheikh speaks from personal experience, given that two of his horses, Strong Suit and Side Glance, were soundly beaten by Sir Henry Cecil’s horse in the Queen Anne Stakes at Ascot in June. He tells me that before the race, Side Glance’s jockey Jimmy Fortune whispered to him: “I’m going to get hold of Frankel’s tail. That is the best way for me to stay with him.”

With that the 23-year-old Sheikh bursts into laughter. Frankel, owned by Saudi prince Khalid Abdullah, may never belong to Fahad but he takes great delight in what the world’s best horse has done for the sport.

“We’re unbelievably blessed to have Frankel. Last year was our first year of sponsorship and on the very first day at the 2,000 Guineas, Frankel won. He has come with us through the journey and, if he finishes off at Ascot with a win, that will be a great year for us.”

Fahad has an integral role in one of the biggest days in the racing calendar but, remarkably, he only went to his first race meeting in 2010.

In fact, when the Sheikh arrived in London six years ago to begin his studies in business administration, his first love was football. His admiration for Arsenal deepened during visits to the Emirates but he says: “I also loved watching racing on television and decided that, when I finished my studies and started working at the family firm, I’d invest a bit in racing. I studied three years’ sales, seeing who buys what and the performance of these horses after they’ve been bought.”

The name of David Redvers came up on every list, prompting Fahad to call the bloodstock agent. But Redvers was in New Zealand and, to complicate matters, Fahad was due to return to Qatar in a fortnight.

“I told him, ‘If you come back to England in two weeks, that’s fine, if not I’ll have to see somebody else.’ Thank God he came over and explained the business to me. I told him, ‘I’ll give you a budget. You buy the horses. You select the trainers. You teach me about racing. This first year is a trial. If you do well, you stay and, at the end of the year, I will invest more. If you don’t, I’m going to find somebody else.’ He was happy to take that challenge and he’s done very well for us.”

So well that a horse Redvers bought in his first year, Dunaden, won the Melbourne Cup last November. By then Fahad had been to his first meeting, the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. “I love the Guineas and Newmarket. My brothers want to win the Derby but my greatest ambition is to win the Guineas.”

Fahad almost purrs as he says this, confident of next year’s 2,000 Guineas. The horse that sustains that dream is Havana Gold. “Three months ago he ran against my horse [Pearl Acclaim] which was odds-on to win. Havana Gold was a 16-1 shot and beat my horse by a length and a half.”

This made such a deep impact he and his advisers monitored the horse and then bought it. “I am excited and I think we have a Guineas winner,” he says. 

Fahad’s formula for buying and selling horses sets him apart from other rich foreign owners, most notably Sheikh Mohammed. The Dubai ruler has done much to sustain British flat racing but Fahad says: “We didn’t come into racing to be the top person. We’ve had tons of horses offered to us that went on to win Group One races. But the prices were ridiculous.

“For me, it is not about buying horses at crazy levels. It’s very easy to go and win every race you want but that’s just putting stupid money away.”

Along with this distinctive ownership style, Fahad has also questioned the many things about British racing that have mystified him. “For a person coming from outside, British racing is strange. The 2,000 Guineas is a very strange name. What are guineas? Why are races called Classics? I was surprised to find there was no equivalent of the Breeders’ Cup in America and there wasn’t a final day to end the season.”

Fahad’s questions had a major impact. “What I didn’t know was that the racing authorities were working on a strategy to have a Champions Series with a final day. They’d found that most people didn’t understand the racing season.

“The authorities wanted to make racing more like the ­Premier League with a final day like the last day of the Premier League season. Once they’d done that they came to us and asked, ‘Are you willing to sponsor this?’” Fahad’s brothers were not into racing but one visit to a racecourse converted them. He says: “You just need to go and see these super-equine athletes racing at 40 miles an hour.

“They loved the atmosphere, the thrill and adrenaline and said to me, ‘Buy us some racehorses.’”

Crucial to their decision to invest £10m was the Queen’s love of the sport. “Without her, racing here is not going to be worth as much as it is now.”

So nothing will please Fahad more than to see the Queen’s Carlton House win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Saturday, even though that would mean beating his own horse Side Glance. “I do believe in Side Glance if the ground is not heavy. But I would love the Queen to win, that would be great.”

His interest in racing does not mean he has forsaken his old love Arsenal although he confesses: “I’m quite sad that players like Robin van Persie have been sold. Arsenal are not spending enough money. I don’t mean crazy money but they need to reinvest.”

Not that he would be prepared to put in any QIPCO money, at least not at the moment. “I’ve got too much on my plate right now with racing. I don’t have time to take on another sport. Maybe in the future, who knows?”

Perhaps, if he finds a horse to match Frankel, he will then turn to Arsenal to see if he can help them win a trophy