Irish Sports
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04 Sep 12
14:44
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05 Jun 08
Woeful prize money in Britain got me thinking......
Isn't it staggering that THE BEST RACEHORSE EVER IN THE WORLD has still not surpassed the lifetime winnings of Kauto Star-a gelding who jumps fences for a living and shares the stage with dozens of others in terms of ability and popularity? Frankel has only won in Britain and has feasted on championship races with their thin, under-nourished bones but is unquestionably a horse of supreme and probably UNIQUE ability.
If I owned Frankel he'd been running until age caught up with him and he'd be running for the biggest pots in the world: Dubai, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Breeders Cup, Paris wherever the dollar took me. (I'd dye my hair green, whistle dixie and become as popular as the dumb animal I was lucky enough to own). Debates about the "greatest ever" ring hollow in my book when connections have cosseted him like a spoilt child. Even having achieved everything at three there was never anything to lose financially and Khalid Abdullah doesn't strike me as a sentimental zillionaire (who hardly needs the cash anyhow) and surely chose the wrong option.
A certain Irish racing correspondent still tells us that Sea The Stars was an under-loved champion but that horse suffered a worse fate than Frankel by being retired at three and so is now just a foot-note in history. Horses are for racing and Frankel's stallion value will remain undiminished in the breeding shed for 4-5 years after retirement until his progeny appear on the track-he might even turn out to be another See-gar.
What's the point of "protecting" him on the racecourse? Why not race until five or six and win pots of cash in the biggest races internationally? Its not as if his nomination fee will reach the stratosphere; he must remain within the reach of breeders' pocket (albeit expensive) but there's only a limit to what this market will bear at any time?
Someone set an agenda that was never questioned; probably influenced by HRAC's unfortuante poor state of health. They hadn't even got the guts to run in Europe's premier race-the Arc.
Isn't it staggering that THE BEST RACEHORSE EVER IN THE WORLD has still not surpassed the lifetime winnings of Kauto Star-a gelding who jumps fences for a living and shares the stage with dozens of others in terms of ability and popularity? Frankel has only won in Britain and has feasted on championship races with their thin, under-nourished bones but is unquestionably a horse of supreme and probably UNIQUE ability.
If I owned Frankel he'd been running until age caught up with him and he'd be running for the biggest pots in the world: Dubai, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Breeders Cup, Paris wherever the dollar took me. (I'd dye my hair green, whistle dixie and become as popular as the dumb animal I was lucky enough to own). Debates about the "greatest ever" ring hollow in my book when connections have cosseted him like a spoilt child. Even having achieved everything at three there was never anything to lose financially and Khalid Abdullah doesn't strike me as a sentimental zillionaire (who hardly needs the cash anyhow) and surely chose the wrong option.
A certain Irish racing correspondent still tells us that Sea The Stars was an under-loved champion but that horse suffered a worse fate than Frankel by being retired at three and so is now just a foot-note in history. Horses are for racing and Frankel's stallion value will remain undiminished in the breeding shed for 4-5 years after retirement until his progeny appear on the track-he might even turn out to be another See-gar.
What's the point of "protecting" him on the racecourse? Why not race until five or six and win pots of cash in the biggest races internationally? Its not as if his nomination fee will reach the stratosphere; he must remain within the reach of breeders' pocket (albeit expensive) but there's only a limit to what this market will bear at any time?
Someone set an agenda that was never questioned; probably influenced by HRAC's unfortuante poor state of health. They hadn't even got the guts to run in Europe's premier race-the Arc.
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Agree with this post except for the last line.
The Arc is a rough race run when the good horses are over the top,where the draw is vital and where you are at the mercy of biased French stewards,a race to be avoided. |
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Excellent post RA
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The Arc is the greatest race in the world. Frankels connections have bottled it. I wish him well in his retirement but his legacy will be as much one of what might have been, as to what was.
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The Arc is a rough race run when the good horses are over the top
so you go for the Champion Stakes then?? That's even later than the Arc |
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The Arc is probably the greatest race in Europe. It's a proper test of not just ability but of toughness and guts as well as speed and class.
With the advent of the international pattern and the lucrative nature of heading to the Far East in the winter it's a long time since a horse was beat because they were over the top in the Arc as most are now given a mid-summer break in anticipation of the major races to come later. |
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That statement was a general one,Frankel has not had a hard season like say Nijinsky but the rough race and the part played by the draw would definitely mitigate against a champion like Frankel.
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His supporters think hes unbeatable yet think the Arc is a rough race (not u wildman) and is best avoided. they also seem to be quetioning the value of the races Frankel HASNT raced in, Derby and Arc most notably, 'not the races they were', most important race is the one Frankel goes for etc, 10f is the ne championship distance.
Frankel appears to have changed the programme of top race horses forever (at least thats what his supporters are proposing). Hes one of the all time greats, has incredible ability but such was his programme that it took him an absolute age to get through it and he still hasnt achieved what past greats as soon as sea the stars had in his 3 yr old season. people can debate form and ratings all they want, the horse faced basically the same field over and over aginst the same horses bar canford, in which he was spectacular, and likewise in the juddmonte even if he did beat a 12f horse in st nic and a solid g1 placed yard stick in farhh, in which he was again spectacular. i dont question his ability for a second but the horse ran over a mile until last week and hes one more race in his 4 yr old season left  if connections didnt bottle it with this hore i dont know who has! |
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Frankel is similar to Best Mate in that he has been looked after to the point of obsession. The difference is that he has constantly put up spectacular performances (Best Mate maybe did once when beating a poor field in his 2nd Gold Cup) but these performances against similar opposition are actually getting a little tiresome despite how emphatic they are.
Kauto and Denman were either asked to try a very wide range of distances or asked to concede lumps of weights in handicaps and it was this asking questions of them that were not rhetorical that endeared them to the public. The Champion Stakes is a lap of honour before retirement with the chances of defeat being so remote that they are not being entertained. Connections are entitled to do what they want, but there is kind of fiduciary duty owed by them to racing, given that they are so fortunate to have such a superstar on their hands. He should have went for the Arc, where we could finally see him tested under circumstances that may not suit in terms of distance and pace scenarios. He should also have been asked to contest the Breeders Cup simply to honour the man he was named after in the arena where that man achieved so much success. He would also have been front page news on every major sports paper and prominent on US sports networks, thereby hugely raising the profile of racing to a level that could come close to Zenyatta or exceed her. What Frankel has done is confirm that he is a spectacularly talented horse. What he has also done is left his own public dissatisfied and another public completely in the dark as to just what type of animal we have the privilege of seeing at the moment. |
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Anybody who is completely in the dark as to what type of animal Frankel is should consider another sport.......
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If people have never heard of him, how could they be anything but in the dark?
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Would agree on some points DV, if you have a horse this good then imho you have a duty to History to test him, he should have either been in Santa Anita or Paris this autumn, he could have been "Englands superhorse campaigning abroad" a bit like Black Caviar has been to the Australian public, something along these lines would have raised awareness amongst the general public as well.
As admirable as Kauto and Denman were ability wise the only horse comparable in the last 30 years was Desert Orchid, thank god he was not trained in these times as i can never see a horse like him and the way he was campaigned without fear of defeat being trained in this country again |
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you have to be sensible,each time a horse races there is a chance it wont return home in one piece,
all you need is a false patch of ground and he would be worthless. now being conservative 125 mares at 50k a cover for 15 to 20 years it aint rocket salad. even if he is not a sucess in the breeding shed he will earn 5 seasons covering fees before he drops in value and if his progeny do well he may start covering at 100k, 5 seasons bringing in 6mill a year beats risking all for prestige. |
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I might agree with that flushgordon if Frankel was owned by a small time owner who needed to be pragmatic from a financial pov.
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how many of his mares do you think will be going to frankel,
how do you think he would feel if he broke a leg and did not cover any mares, breeding your own always gives you more satisfaction. |
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If your main concern was him not breaking a leg, why even race him as a 4 yo?
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Money will not be an issue for KA or, if it is, someone has entirely missed the plot. He earns money like you and I breathe free air.
The horse will stand for 200,000+ would be my guess and access will be limited and hard to come by. If he's a "success" at stud it will be for the initiated only. KA's priority has always been producing top-class racehorses and now that he has achieved the ultimate everyone is left feeling shortchanged. I agree with the sentiments expressed by ilwab and DV: connections had an opportunity to bring racing to the world at large and failed miserably. Somehow the horse assumed human qualities and his "wellbeing" became the issue. There is a non-financial side to Frankel that was entirely missed-an opportunity to bring racing to the favelas. Seabiscuit was born 80 years ago and is still held fondly in the public's memory. What will be Frankel's legacy? It won't be the stuff of legend unfortunately. In a year of poor 3yo's there's just a chance that if Camelot wins the Leger he will be more famous in time joining Nijinsky in the pantheon than Frankel will ever be-what an irony that would be. Who is reponsible for missing this opportunity can only be conjecture but my money would be on po-faced British advisors who couldn't see beyoud the white cliffs of Dover, Racing For Change, British Champions Day and their noses. I really believe as the years pass it will dawn on everyone that "racing" squandered its best opportunity in decades to bring the sport to the highest peak. |
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camelot
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dont worry royal academy......camelot will never ever be mentioned in the same breath as frankel......
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not suggesting anything other than history is fickle: pub quizzes ask about Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed and Nijinsky: not many champion milers test the anoraks. And the further in the past the victory the more it is likely to become "legend".
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200k + seems an extraordinary amout for a horse that never proved himself over 12f or his ability as a sire in general.
100k max and i believe that is too much. sts is a much better stallion prospect imo, dare i say from a breeding point of view capping arguably the finest 3yr old career in modern racing if not ever and being by one of the greatest broadmares ever. |