Sorry folks, I've been away for a few days so not been keeping up to date. Another good run from Senator yesterday and hoping for the 1-2 in today's Lowther!
CUNCO has been declared for the Listed Stonehenge Stakes at Salisbury tomorrow. SAN REMO has an entry for a Curragh Maidn on Sunday.
Frankel is now ranked second in the European leading first season sire list by prize money won. He's also th only freshman sire to have 2 individual Stakes winners to date. He tops the list for best strike rate at 80% winners to runners and is 7th by number of individual winners, though those above him have had more than double the number of runners he has.
certainly not looking for easy contests for Cunco. Will be a top class listed race and surprised for the 2nd time Beckett has chosen to take on the colts with Gemina.
Interestingly, as well as the usual big end of season Fillies Group races, FAIR EVA has been given an entry for the Mill Reef at Newbury. The big end of season races have the following Frankel's entered: Champagne Stakes (G2) CUNCO LIGHTENING FAST SAN REMO SEVEN HEAVENS Moyglare Stud (G1) FAIR EVA Mill Reef (G2) FAIR EVA SEVEN HEAVENS SWISS STORM Rockfel (G2) FAIR EVA HARBA MORI Cheveley Park (G1) FAIR EVA HARBA QUEEN KINDLY YARAKI Royal Lodge (G2) CUNCO EMINENT FRANKUUS SAN REMO ZEFFERINO Middle Park (G1) SEVEN HEAVENS Beresford (G2) LIGHTENNG FAST SAN REMO Fillies Mile (G1) ALJEZEERA FAIR EVA MORI Dewhurst (G1) FRANKUUS LAST KINGDOM MIRAGE DANCER SAN REMO SENATOR SEVEN HEAVENS ZEFFERINO
Okay, with recent results, is it time for a bite from the reality sandwich? In June and July, Frankel’s first handful of runners were largely competing against early season two year olds, with what anybody would consider to be excellent results. Now a few of them are starting to find the going a little tougher. I think that this is almost certainly down to the type of opposition. Early season two year olds are bred to be precocious and quick, many of them not amounting to much as three year olds or being sold off to race abroad. We know that most of the Frankel two year olds were bred for three year olds, predominately from a book of mares bringing stamina to the mix. As the two year old season goes on, the better-bred two year olds from the major yards are now starting to hit the track, so the Frankels are finding a little more competition. Take the Group 3 Solario Stakes, where Frankel was represented by Majoris. He was perfectly entitled to be taking his chance having won a nursery easily. Most of the opposition had only had one or two starts and had won small field maiden races or novice events but they looked much more the late-season type of two year old. As it turned out, South Seas won the race easily, whilst Majoris came in only a respectable fifth. The Frankel two year olds that debut from now to the end of the season might prove a better barometer of prospects for the Frankel three year olds in 2017 as they will be taking on their like.
Very fair comment. Noticed in the Weekender that Stoute's unraced Frankel colt Rainbow Legacy was mentioned as leaving his galloping companions in his wake. When born his early pictures showed him to be a good-looker and I've heard elsewhere that he's one of the Frankels that people are really waiting to see. My problem with him is that his dam has been a huge disappointment so far. However at least he's showing some capability on the gallops. No entries so far and no big entries other than the Derby (which says nothing really). Should appear in September I'd think.
From Racing Post: More Frankel juveniles set to hit the track BY DAVID MILNES 7:10PM 22 AUG 2016 FRANKEL has made a phenomenal start to his stud career with 15 winners already on the board and nine individual winners from just 13 of his offspring who have hit the racecourse. Our Newmarket correspondent David Milnes, who tracked the Sir Henry Cecil-trained superstar through his career on the Newmarket gallops, focuses on some of the second wave of baby Frankels who are about to hit the track. please log in to view this image Swiss Storm (David Elsworth)This powerful colt could debut at the Newmarket July course, just as his sire did six years ago, as he is entered in a 7f maiden there on Friday. A half-brother to smart sprinters Swiss Spirit and Swiss Diva, Swiss Storm is still part-owned by his breeders Lordship Stud but it is noticeable Elsworth himself has also taken a share. In a rare move, Elsworth boxed the colt to the other side of Newmarket for an early morning exercise on the Al Bahathri last week which left connections purring. please log in to view this image Rainbow Legacy (Sir Michael Stoute)Stoute is yet to run any of his Frankels, but this strapping colt is the most forward and not far off a run. Entered in next year's Investec Derby, he is the only Frankel on the books of the Ballymacoll Stud and is bred to stay well as his dam is a full-sister to former Stoute-trained top-notchers Golan and Tartan Bearer. Rainbow Legacy has been pleasing in his work on the all-weather surfaces of late and can be expected to debut sometime next month over seven furlongs or a mile.
Here are the others from that article: Eminent (Martyn Meade) They have long been getting excited by this relatively cheap purchase -150,000gns - down at Sefton Lodge stables on the Bury Road and their dreams are expected to be tested in the coming weeks. Although he is related to sprinters, Eminent has been showing some staying qualities in his work of late, including when going right off the end of the watered gallop. That experience should stand him in good stead when the Group 2 Royal Lodge entry finally hits the track with connections waiting for some ease in the ground. Tsavo (Hugo Palmer) Palmer has already introduced the two-time winner Majoris from his trio of Frankel colts and the signs at Kremlin Cottage are that this son of Hazel Lavery could be the best of the lot. Tsavo is the first foal of a Group 3 St Simon Stakes winner and is expected to debut over seven furlongs or a mile in October. Harba (William Haggas) Haggas has half a dozen Frankels up his sleeve including Finsceal Beo's daughter La Figlia, still the most expensive to be sold at auction at €1.8 milllion. This less big-ticket item (300,000gns) is not far off her debut down at Somerville Lodge and has entries in the Group 2 Rockfel and Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes this autumn.
Updated list of runners to date: FAIR EVA - 3 runs, 2 wins, 1 place - G3 winner, G2 placed QUEEN KINDLY - 4 runs, 3 wins, 1 place - G2 winner, G3 placed CUNCO - 4 runs, 1 win, 1 place - Listed placed FRANKUUS - 4 runs, 1 win, 1 place - Listed placed SEVEN HEAVENS - 1 run, 1 win, 0 place MAJORIS - 4 runs, 2 wins, 0 place TOULIFAUT - 2 runs, 2 wins, 0 place SENATOR - 2 runs, 2 wins, 0 place ALJEZEERA - 1 run, 1 win, 0 place SOUL STIRRING - 1 run, 1 win, 0 place ZEFFERINO - 1 run, 0 wins, 1 place LAST KINGDOM - 1 run, 0 win, 1 place, LIGHTENING FAST - 2 runs, 0 win, 1 place SAN REMO - 1 run, 0 win, 0 place BROOKLYN BOBBY - 1 run, 0 win, 0 place RISE EAGLE - 1 run, 0 win, 0 place
Article from TDN: Frankel’s Flying Start Impressive, But Not Matchless Monday, August 22, 2016 | Back to: Europe, Shared News Previous Story | Next Story Frankel | Juddmonte Farm By John Berry Notwithstanding the first-season Royal Ascot hat-tricks of New Approach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Zoffany (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), it is hard to name a horse in recent years who has made as impressive a start to his stud career as Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). He was, of course, an outstanding champion on the track, but that guarantees nothing as the score-board goes back to zero when a stallion starts out at stud. Frankel’s early figures, however, are already excellent: 10 individual winners from 16 individual runners including two stakes winners: G2 Lowther S. heroine Queen Kindly (GB) and G3 Princess Margaret S. victrix Fair Eva (GB). Obviously we cannot say how things will go for Frankel in the future, and there is much more to a top-class stud career than the ability to sire plenty of precocious first-crop 2-year-olds. In fact, instant success and long-term achievement are not necessarily one and the same thing, as Frankel’s sire himself has proved. Galileo’s first juveniles collectively won no pattern races in 2006, but the races won by his offspring in 2007 included the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas, G1 St Leger (in which he sired the trifecta), G1 National S., G1 Dewhurst S., G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf, G2 Lancashire Oaks, G2 Futurity S. and G2 Prix Chaudenay. Since then, of course, Galileo has gone from strength to strength. It is easy, though, to believe that Frankel will eventually establish himself as the complete stallion, an influence for class in general rather than merely for achievement at a specific distance or age. Any such speculation inevitably invites comparison not only with Galileo but with the great sires of the past–and in particular it prompts reflection on how other stallions have fared after making a meteoric start. Perhaps the most impressive start to a European stud career in recent years was made by Kendargent (Fr) (Kendor {Fr}). While that admirable grey horse did not come up with any Group 1 winners in his first crop (in fact, he has yet to sire one) he over-achieved (and is still doing so) to an extent rarely witnessed. Having failed to score in stakes company in his three-season racing career, he retired to stud with no fanfare whatsoever, covering tiny books at a fee of €500. The percentages from his first-crop of 2-year-olds were almost unimaginably good. From a crop of 19 foals, he sired seven juvenile runners and four juvenile winners, two of whom scored in pattern company. Kendargent’s career has continued in similar vein and, having started to cover big books of good mares at a five-figure fee in 2014, it is surely only a matter of time before Group 1 success ensues. While Kendargent has clearly over-performed to a remarkable extent, perhaps the bar at which Frankel should be aiming is an even higher one: that set by Adraan (Fr) (Zedddaan {Fr}). Sadly, Adraan sired merely one incomplete crop, dying from skin cancer at Narrung Stud in South Australia on Dec. 1, 1982, having covered the majority, but not all, of his small first book of mares. The following spring, 27 Adraan foals were born. Of these, 23 got as far as being named, and 22 of them raced at least once. Twenty of these 22 runners won. Of these 20 winners, 15 scored in town and seven were stakes winners. He actually ended up with nine stakes performers because two of his lesser winners were stakes-placed. Remarkably, three of Adraan’s 2-year-olds earned a start in the 1986 Golden Slipper: Magic Flute (Aus), Bataan (Aus) and Khaptivaan (Aus). Another of his 2-year-olds, El Vaquero (Aus), landed South Australia’s premier juvenile race, the G2 SAJC Sires’ Produce S. The following year proved that Adraan had not merely been an influence for juvenile precocity. Having scored in Group 2 company as a 2-year-old, Magic Flute won four pattern races at three including the G1 VATC Thousand Guineas and the G1 AJC Doncaster H. In the same season, Khaptivaan landed the G2 AJC Surround S., in which Magic Flute finished third, the pair split by the Golden Slipper winner Bounding Away (Aus) (Biscay {Aus}). Bataan, Adraanito (Aus), Adraanette (Aus) and Aussie Consul (Aus) also landed pattern wins aged three or more. Time proved that the loss to Australian breeding in general and South Australian breeding in particular when Adraan died was immense. Even with so few foals, he still managed to leave a legacy. Bataan became a decent stallion, while Wham (Aus) (Adraan {Fr}) left the NZ Group 1 winner Captain Cook (NZ) and the multiple Australian stakes winner Corregidor (NZ) from limited opportunities in New Zealand. Stardraan (Aus) (Adraan {Fr}) also made his mark as a sire, leaving the dual stakes winner Ashaard (Aus) from even scantier patronage. Khaptivaan proved the best of Adraan’s daughters at stud, breeding G1 VATC Oakleigh Plate winner Khaptingly (NZ) (Bletchingly {Aus}) as well as listed winner Khaptrist (NZ) (Sir Tristram) and three-time winner and successful South Australian-based stallion Devaraja (NZ) (Sir Tristram). Snow Wonder (Aus) (Adraan {Fr}) also excelled, breeding G1 MVRC Manikato S. winner You Remember (Gold Carat); while Adraanito produced G2 VRC Ascot Vale S. winner Spargo (Aus) (Rory’s Jester {Aus}). While the full extent of Adraan’s success could not have been predicted, he had gone to stud entitled to be an excellent sire of sprinters. Trained for his owner/breeder HH Aga Khan IV by Francois Mathet, he had been one of Europe’s fastest colts of 1980, when he broke Longchamp’s 1000-metre record in taking the G3 Prix de Saint-Georges and also won the G3 Prix du Gros Chene over 1000 metres at Chantilly. He ended his career by starting favourite in the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, in which he finished fourth to the British champion Moorestyle (GB) (Manacle {GB}). The source of Adraan’s speed is easy to identify, as he was an archetypal product of the Aga Khan’s studs in the era when HH Aga Khan III’s dictum of “speed, speed and more speed” still held sway. Along the bottom line of his pedigree he came from HH Aga Khan III’s brilliant foundation mare Mumtaz Mahal (GB) (The Tetrarch {GB}), ‘The Flying Filly’ from whom so many of the stud’s champions have descended. Along the top he came from the line of Mumtaz Mahal’s outstanding grandson Nasrullah (GB) (Nearco {Ity}) via the 1950 Richmond S. winner Grey Sovereign (GB). The Grey Sovereign line has yielded many great racehorses and stallions over the years–usually short-distance horses, often grey and sometimes feisty–and is best represented nowadays by Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) as well as the aforementioned Kendargent. The start at stud made by Adraan was the most impressive made by any stallion in Australia since the first Baramul Stud-conceived sons and daughters of Star Kingdom (Ire) (Stardust {GB}) began racing in the 1954/55 season, in which term the first juvenile race, the AJC Breeders’ Plate, fell to the only Star Kingdom colt to have been sold from Baramul as a yearling, Kingster (Aus). Star Kingdom’s first crop contained 20 registered foals, 18 runners and 16 winners. His figures for his second crop (22 registered foals for 21 runners, 18 winners) and third crop (20 registered foals, 19 runners, 18 winners) were similarly good. His feat in producing the first five winners of the STC Golden Slipper S. set the tone for a career which marked him down as Australia’s most successful and influential sire of the pre-Danehill era. Frankel has already lived longer than Adraan and it must be hoped that he can live at least as long as Star Kingdom, who died on Apr. 21, 1967 at the age of 21. In fact, it would be lovely to think that he could emulate the longevity of Hyperion (GB) (Gainsborough {GB}), grandsire of Star Kingdom and ancestor of Frankel through his daughter Lady Angela (GB), the dam of Northern Dancer’s sire Nearctic (Can) (Nearco {Ity}). When Newmarket’s initial batch of ‘Legends of the Turf’ were inducted in 2014, the first two horses to be thus celebrated were Hyperion and Frankel. The former, winner of the Derby and St Leger in 1933, proved himself Britain’s greatest stallion of the 20th century before dying in 1960 at the age of 30. Frankel has yet to prove that he can be ranked in the same class (as a stallion, anyway) as either Hyperion or Star Kingdom, or that he can compile statistics to rival those put together by Adraan (and it will, of course, be two or three years before we know whether Frankel’s first crop contains the 100 or so individual winners and approximately 35 stakes winners necessary to match Adraan’s figures). But the early signs for Frankel are very promising.
SWISS STORM has been taken out of the race on Friday but remains on course for his Saturday engagement for now. SEVEN HEAVENS and KHATTAR have both been given entries in a Conditions race at Goodwood on Tuesday.
SWISS STORM has been given an entry at Haydock on Thursday. HARBA has been given an entry at Haydock on Friday.
