"This horse exceeds anything any other horse has done before." Clare Balding "This is the best race horse that anyone will ever see." Willie Carson "He's a great, great horse. He did exactly what I thought but he is still improving." Henry Cecil. Will we get to see him at his very best or will he go to stud after this season?
He is the best I've seen. They have to give him the highest ever rating now. Il predict a rating of 150 *
Think the only 2 that come close are Shergar and Arazi. Shergar was not a great 2yo but had that special ability to put distance between him and the field in a matter of strides - but I guess the dissappointing run in the St Leger tainted his career slightly! Arazi was a phenominal 2yo but is tainted by his Kentucky derby disaster!
Amazing how similar our opinions are TC, those would be the 2 before Frankel that I'd rate highly, along with Dubai Millenium.* Sea The Stars put together an impressive sequence, but he never really put up a performance that made me think wow*
It's impossible to answer definately but imho he's the best I've ever seen and I think he will be the highest rated horse of all time by retirement, if not sooner.
Yes, Sea the Stars has a very impressive sequence and the one that made me think wow was the Arc de Tromphe against world class opposition - but not a patch Shergar or Arazi in my opinion The way Frankel disposed of Canford Cliffs (Who had just put Goldikova in its place) was probably the best performance I have ever seen live. If he had a better Jockey on board he'd definately be over the 150 rating
Thought it was 147 provisionally from Timeform Shergar? I heard 142 from RP and 138+ from the BHA. Take your pick.
147 it is then, I must be cracking up. Still 2 pounds better than the best before him Brigadier Gerard. I could not believe his performance today, to win by as far as he did was ridiculous. Such is the bias nature of timeform towards horses from the 60s and 70s, I never thought we'd see a horse get past 145, or even near it.*
Only Just watched a replay of the race.And ve never ever gone over board about the horse until now. But i have to say that's the greatest horse ive seen in my lifetime,and probably ever likely to see.
Frankel is a great horse and gave an impressive performance today beating not very much but I wouldn't say he is the greatest horse ever just yet though. He is probably the best miler ever seen but I feel people are looking at the winning distances against poor fields and elevating the performances. Today's race may have been a Group 1 but it was never a Group 1 quality field. Excelebration won a poor G1 beating Rio De La Plata and on that form Excelebration would have come fourth in last year's Queen Anne behind Canford Cliffs, Goldikova and Cityscape. You could have probably have got nearly a dozen class milers from the past 2 or 3 years inbetween Frankel and Excelebration today. I just feel Excelebration has been overrated on his runs behind Frankel. More impressively today for Frankel was the time. Frankel's times in his races so far have not been that good so having a 'fast' run was pleasing. I think I'm right in saying only his two Royal Ascot wins have been 'faster' than average (compared to Sea The Stars who was 'faster' in the Arc, Juddmonte and the Eclipse). I much prefer horses that can win over multiple distances and different tactics. Ballydoyle had much more weapons to test Sea The Stars than they have had so far against Frankel. It would have been more interesting had then run So You Think today rather than Excelebration. Until Frankel steps up and/ or takes on soemthing more than Excelebration, I think top miler is about the limit.
Sea The Stars not a patch on Shergar or Arazi? Wasnt Arazi just a good 2yo? And Shergar would never have won a Guineas. Sea The Stars broke the 1m2 track record at York remember and his performances in the Eclipse and Arc were exceptional, for me he achieved alot more than Arazi or Shergar. Large winning distances in the Derby dont always mean unbeatable freak wonder horse - see Workforce - and IMO a horse who can win Group 1's from 1m to 1m4 producing world class performances at all trips is better than an out and out 1m4 galloper who is always going to show their very best in the Derby.
Interestingly Coolmore have only run Zoffany (once), Excelebration and Windsor Place (both twice) against Frankel since his 2000 Guineas win whereas they ran Fame And Glory (x3), Masterofthehorse, Rip Van Winkle (twice), Mastercraftsman (twice), Golden Sword, Age of Aquarius, Black Bear Island, Malibu Bay, Cornish (x4), Georgebernardshaw, Grand Ducal (twice), Rockhampton against Sea The Stars after his Guineas win.
First of all, what a sensational performance by Frankel today. There was a collective standing ovation in our house as he cruised past his pacemaker and went further and further ahead. I have to say I was very disappointed So You Think didn't take on Frankel today. Frankel did what we expected him to do (he was 1/10) and pulverised the pretty average opposition. So You Think regularly clocks good times so I think he would have finished the race in a similar time as Frankel. However, what is so incredible is that Frankel was cruising and gave Queally an armchair ride. If So You Think had been in the race I'm absolutely certain that Frankel would have smashed the course record in order to beat him. That was probably the best performance I have ever seen over 8f, with the possible exception of Dubai Millennium when he thrashed Sendawar in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. * The question is, how good can he be? We may have a chance to find this out when he tackles 10f. Based on how well he settled today and the ease with which he cruised into the lead and the exceptional time he clocked on good to soft without being extended, what can beat him over 10f? I think all that So You Think, Camelot and any other horse could do now is to get Frankel to raise his game. What a sight to witness that would be. I just hope the best 10f horses around take him on. Reservations? What reservations? * Sorry, that was 10f
Have to say that as someone who lost interest in flat racing in the 90s when connections never allowed their stars to run beyond 3yo, it's fantastic that Frankel is around as a 4yo and the fact he is still improving is justification for the decision. Oh, and that performance today was about the first time the hairs on my neck stood from watching a flat race since Mister Baileys won the Guinneas, just phenominal...
I've just got home from Ascot. He was unreal. I have no words to describe how electric the crowd was and god bless Tom for bringing him back in front of the stands to parade in full. I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who want to crab a great horse. Is he the greatest horse ever? Who knows? None of us ever saw Eclipse race, perhaps he was the best! Frankel can only beat the horses put in front of him. Why put down his connections for not sending him over a variety of trips? Why not put down the other owners/trainers who go out of their way to avoid him? Edit to add - the plan is to send him to stud after this seasons racing, so we can look forward to his first offspring hitting the racecourse in 2016!
From the Telegraph: Sectional timing was available at the meeting for the first time and the evidence revealed indicated that Frankel ran his fastest one-furlong section between the three-furlong and the two-furlong marker. He covered that furlong stretch in 10.58 sec, recording a top speed of 42.53mph on good to soft ground. Three consecutive furlongs at around 40mph mid-race meant he burned his rivals off with a display of pace they could not live with.
