As Glorious Goodwood rolls on to Cup day and another tricky card for punters to resolve, it is worth reflecting on a couple of points coming out of yesterdayâs incredible display by Frankel. Firstly, the news that connections main target for the horse this season will be the much-maligned Champions day at Ascot on October 15th. Although the specific race he will contest is still under consideration (The QEII over a mile or The Champion Stakes over 10F) the positive implications of this decision for British racing have, I feel, been somewhat overlooked. Year after year we are told that all roads lead to the Arc meeting, with a follow-up in the Breeders Cup for the more adventurous. When the date for the Qipco Champions Day was announced there was plenty of scorn and derision heaped upon Racing For Change for this preposterous suggestion. But are they maybe on to a winner after all? Whilst the thoughts of Ballydoyle and Godolphin revolve around their enormous breeding operations and ever further refinement of bloodstock (and prices!!) is it not refreshing that connections of Frankel have chosen this route? It can be argued that they would have gone to Paris with a 12F horse but that would be splitting hairs. The fact that Frankel will (hopefully, health permitting) line up at Ascot all but guarantees a full house and more media hype which can only be good for raising the sportâs profile. I therefore say well done Prince Khaled, well done Sir Henry and âhear hearâ for British racing. The French can keep their false straight and sprint finishes, the yanks can keep their dirt tracks and lasix. Ascot is the place to be this year. The other thought that occurred to me was around Frankelâs stamina and the assertion by Sir Henry after the Guineas and St James Palace Stakes that Frankel wasnât tiring at the end of those races, he was idling in front and looking around for company. Whilst at the time this seemed somewhat fanciful, I am starting to wonder whether the great man was right after all. For, despite the amazing sight of Frankel rocketing away from Canford Cliffs at the 2F marker, the images that have stuck with me even more from yesterday were Tom Queallyâs attempts to pull the horse up after the finishing post. The tank was clearly far from empty and we actually do not know what more Frankel could find should he get into a scrap. The thought that another horse could give him a fight just seems so ridiculous at the moment. Ultimately we may never know. Just 2 of many thoughts that have been going through my mind since seeing that incredible performance. All comments and views appreciated.
Oddy - it's a great thread but i'm afarid i do have to take issue with one point. You say it would be splitting hairs to suggest that if Frankel was a 12 furloing horse he'd be going to Paris but that really is the bottom line though is it not? He is the best miler this season by far (note I resisted the temptation to say by a mile...) and arguably the best, and richest, mile race left is on the new Champions day. The same is true of the 1 mile 2 race. You can argue that the Breeders cup is more lucrative but the prize money on offer at Ascot probably means that they can afford to not take any of the many risks associated with sending a horse to the USA. Quite honestly I think Racing for change has hit the jackpot completely inadvertently. If this was planned in 2009 when SeaTheStars swept all before him we'd all be up in arms and saying how futile the initiative was. One thing I will say though is that he has really saved the day single handedly, or single hoofedly. It will be an amazing day but probably only because of one horse.
As one of the few who hasn't seen the race, I am green with envy of those who have! I was in the Frankel camp before the race and was please to see the result, but the actual performance has got everyone talking. I don't usually watch the Morning Line on Saturday but definitely will this week - just hope they show all the race. Being an old git I have seen a lot of the wonder horses in the past, and been wowed by the likes of Shergar, Sea Bird, the Brigadier, Nijinsky, Vaguely Noble in the early years as well as Sea the Stars and Workforce more recently, so I am looking forward to catching up with Frankels run. Kudos to the owners for even considering keeping him on as a 4 year old.
Fair play Chippy, I do think he would be going to Longchamp if they thought he could win the Arc (I do BTW, but he's not mine). I'm not sure if Champions Day has a 12F Group 1, but I think not? Probably knew they wouldn't get the top horses as its too close to the Arc.
Reebok got to www.youtube.com and type "Frankel Sussex Stakes" in the search box - you can see the whole race there with Simon Holt's wonderful commentary
On a different thread, I copied the following tweet from the BBC’s Cornelius Lysaght not long after the Sussex Stakes: That would suggest that the Champion Stakes is not on the agenda. In any event, the Champion Stakes has not moved in the calendar, it has just moved to Ascot. Most of the rest of the fixture has moved date from September. Having Frankel come along this year is no vindication of the Champions’ Day so-called innovation. If it did not exist, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes would be happening a month earlier on the old Ascot card. This might have presented us with the prospect of a rematch between Frankel and Canford Cliffs; however, the new October date almost certainly means that the ground will be on the soft side and Canford Cliffs will be a no show. Whatever difficulties were perceived with Tom Queally pulling Frankel up after the Sussex, this is not evidence of the horse’s staying ability because the horse is not racing. I have seen plenty of sprinters take a couple of furlongs to pull up but that does not mean that they are all potential milers. My personal opinion is that Frankel would not stay a mile-and-a-half and I cannot see connections even trying it because the horse has so much natural speed that they will stick to a mile and possibly give ten furlongs a go.
QM I'm not saying the fact he was difficult to pull up means he'll get further, I was merely saying that it lends credence to Sir Henry's claims that he wasn't tired at the end of the Guineas or St James Palace, he was actually idling in front. I also firmly believe that, although there is room for improvement, the Champions day is a good idea. At the moment the whole flat season seems to revlove around Longchamp and The Breeders Cup (at least for greedy bloodstockers). Why shouldn't we have a British equivalent? We need to blow our own British trumpet more and show that we can also have a real day of champions.
With Breeders' Cup being the end of season target for CC (they shelled out to pay the open enrolment fee for him) I'd doubt they will take on Frankel again at Ascot. On the topic of CC I had a very interesting chat at Goodwood today with a senior manager of a famous Newmarket stud who told me they had considered buying into CC as a stallion prospect when he was a 2yo but that the boss had declined on the basis of his dodgy pedigree. You only have to look at Brigadier Gerard (another top class horse with a god awful pedigree) to see the risk that Coolmore have taken.
I agree with OddDog about the Champions Day. It may take a few years to build but I would much rather watch a Champions Day at a quality track such as Ascot than the stuff which is dished up each year in the Breeders Cup.
Longchamp is a horrid track anyways, the draw bias there is ridiculous, it's not a track worthy of holding a championship race. It's about time the Uk and Irish trainers stick 2 fingers up to the French and boycott the Arc meeting, and take there best horse to the Champion Stakes. Ascot is the best racecourse in the UK by a country mile, it has the biggest capacity, and the best faciltys. The champions day was great at Newmarket, but Newmarket isnt realy big enough, nor is it prestigous enough to take Champions day to the next level. Ascot does seem to have abit of a monopoly of the big races in the UK now, with this whole Champions day adding to the Royal meeting and King George meeting, but there isn't another racecourse in the UK that has the same pulling power, so I can understand why racing for change have done it
Which draw bias is that? Probably the one that you perceive to exist in a mile-and-a-half race with twenty runners, based on some statistic that McCririck has blurted out from the betting jungle. I have been to the new Ascot once and I think it is rubbish. The designers score nought out of ten unless it is intended to be an exercise arena for obese patrons. Unlike Longchamp, you cannot stand within one hundred yards of the winning post unless you pay top dollar for the Premier enclosure. That is elitism. The Them and Us Society still lives at the Royal course. Those of us that go for the racing rather than the Pimms bar would still put York in front of Ascot. When Royal Ascot was held at York in 2005 it was absolutely deserted because the Home Counties’ set could not find their way north of Oxford and the northerners could not afford smart clothes to comply with the dress code.
