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“To have four of the world’s top six turf horses confirmed for Saturday (20th October) promises something very special indeed for Britain’s richest raceday, especially in the QIPCO Champion Stakes when Frankel looks like facing the toughest assignment of his career as he attempts to retain his unbeaten record,” said Rod Street, Chief Executive of British Champions Series Ltd.
“It’s expected to be the world number one’s final race and a capacity crowd will be ready to bid him farewell on a day that’s likely to build to an unparalleled and highly charged crescendo shortly after 4pm.
FRANKEL FACTS
- Frankel has won 13 races out of 13 races by an aggregate margin of 741⁄2 lengths, an average winning distance of 5.7 lengths, winning £2,261,072 in prize money. Race number 14, the QIPCO Champion Stakes, is likely to be his last before he retires to stud and if he wins by far the most valuable race that he has contested to date, he will collect another £737,230 in prize money.
- 294,000 racegoers have witnessed Frankel’s 13 victories, more than three times the number that attend a Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.
- Frankel is officially the highest-rated horse in the world on a rating of 140, towering above the next highest-rated horse this year, his main QIPCO Champion Stakes rival, Cirrus des Aigles, who is rated 130. Since international ratings were introduced in 1977, only one horse has achieved a rating higher than Frankel – Dancing Brave in 1986, who was rated 141 and was also owned by Khalid Abdulla. Can Frankel match or eclipse that mark in the QIPCO Champion Stakes? With one length roughly equivalent to 13⁄4 pounds, he would need to beat Cirrus des Aigles (assuming he is deemed to have run to form) by just over 6 lengths to be sure of achieving 141.
- Frankel is the first horse in history to run to an official rating of 140 twice. He did so in the Queen Anne Stakes over a mile at Royal Ascot and the Juddmonte International over a mile and a quarter at York.
- His Timeform rating of 147 awarded after the Queen Anne Stakes is the highest in Timeform’s 64-year history. It puts him ahead of the likes of Sea Bird (born 1962, rated 145), Brigadier Gerard (born 1968, rated 144) and Tudor Minstrel (born 1944, rated 144), while Timeform only have Dancing Brave on 140.
- 13 horses have won two races in the QIPCO British Champions Series races since its inception last year – Canford Cliffs, Dream Ahead, Blue Bunting, Dancing Rain, Fame And Glory, Opinion Poll, So You Think, Nathaniel, St Nicholas Abbey, Camelot, Society Rock, Saddler’s Rock and Times Up – but only one horse, Frankel, has won more than that. Remarkably he has won no less than eight Series races to stamp his mark in no uncertain terms and he will look to make it nine on QIPCO British Champions Day.
- After winning the Juddmonte International Stakes at York, Frankel surpassed the record for consecutive wins in European Group 1 races set by Rock Of Gibraltar 10 years ago. He has won eight Group 1s in a row (nine in total) and can make it nine in a row (10 in total) on QIPCO British Champions Day.
- His starting price on his debut was 7-4, the only time he has ever been odds- against. His shortest starting price was 1-20 in this year’s QIPCO Sussex Stakes at Goodwood when he became the first horse in history to win that race twice.
- Frankel’s owner-trainer-jockey combination of Khalid Abdulla, Sir Henry Cecil and Tom Queally are seeking their third QIPCO Champion Stakes victory in four years having won the race in 2009 and 2010, when it was run at Newmarket, with Twice Over.
- Frankel is valued at a record-breaking £100 million as a future stallion and is expected to command a covering fee of around £100,000. Conversely his biggest rival in the QIPCO Champion Stakes, the winner of the race last year, Cirrus des Aigles, is worthless in breeding terms as he has been gelded.
- Frankel’s life began in box number five of the Foaling Unit at Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket, Suffolk, where he was born at 11.40pm on 11 February 2008. He weighed 123lb (8 stone 11lbs) – a bit heavier than a Flat jockey. His height now is 163.8cm or 16hh 1/2 inch.
- He was named after one of the greatest American trainers of all time, Bobby Frankel, who died in November 2009 and who trained very successfully for Frankel’s owner, Khalid Abdulla.
- He went into training with Sir Henry Cecil on 14 January 2010, having first completed his pre-training in Ireland.
- When Frankel arrived at Sir Henry’s Newmarket yard, he went into one of the barns used for yearlings. Towards the middle of his two-year-old career, he was moved to a “bigger and better” box. However, he did not like it and would not settle, so had to be moved back. The team attempted to move him again, later in the year, but the same thing happened. He clearly prefers his original box, which now boasts CCTV – a must when stabling a horse of such value.
- He eats three feeds each day and snacks on English hay – older horses usually eat American hay, but this proved a little too rich for Frankel. For his main feed, he eats corn, alfalfa chaff and bran, and likes a carrot treat. He also has a calcium supplement to keep his bones in good shape. He eats more than any other horse in the yard – about 23lbs of Canadian oats per day, which is the equivalent of approximately 600 Weetabix biscuits.
- He has the largest feet in Sir Henry Cecil’s yard and wears size 71⁄2 shoes in front and size 7 behind.
- He is looked after by a small team of people, consisting of stable lad, Sandeep Gauravaram, head girl, Dee Deacon, work rider, Shane Fetherstonhaugh, vet, Charlie Smith, and farrier, Stephen Kielt, all of whom are overseen by assistant trainer, Mike Marshall, and Sir Henry Cecil himself. They describe Frankel as a very inquisitive character who always likes to know what is going on, adding that he is naturally competitive and knows that he is something special.
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Allison is the Publisher of Eclipse Magazine. She loves going to the Races and is learning to bet (despite being officially the worst bettor in the History of the Universe), there’s a lot more to learn…
