Rock and a hard place

In decades to come, the world of horse racing will remember Frankel as the greatest champion colt over a mile since Rock of Gibraltar and, in my book, there is no higher praise.

To beat the Rock’s extraordinary record of seven Group One victories in a row, however, Frankel will need to stay in training as a four-year-old, for even if – sorry, when – he wins the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Saturday, the brilliant son of Galileo will “only” have won all nine of his races.

They were not all at the highest level – though four of his last five victories were Group Ones – and that gives owner Khalid Abdullah and trainer Henry Cecil a huge dilemma.

Do they keep the best racehorse in the world in training to prove his superiority over several generations, or risk losing him to an accident as a four-year-old when he is worth many millions at stud?

Had Frankel been campaigned differently, he might already have beaten Rock of Gibraltar’s record. But Cecil insisted that Frankel needed time between races and so, as a three-year-old, he has brought him out for just the totesport.com Greenham Stakes, the Qipco 2,000 Guineas, the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot and the Qipco Sussex Stakes, when he cantered over a class field including older champion Canford Cliffs.

Frankel has now had more than two months of a break and, last week, as he prepared for what will be his final race as a three-year-old, he looked very special on the Newmarket gallops. He has grown and filled out a bit, and he galloped magnificently as regular jockey Tom Queally took him ahead of his companions with effortless ease.

All who saw Frankel as a two-year-old knew he was something special. His incredibly impressive win in the Juddmonte Royal Lodge over next Saturday’s course and distance and his subsequent cosy win in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket a year ago made him the horse to follow.

He did not let his fans down as a three-year-old and, at four, he would surely be unstoppable.

Racing needs a superstar like him at the moment – imagine him in the Lockinge, Queen Anne, Sussex, Queen Elizabeth II and Breeders Cup Mile next year. How good would that be?

Yet racing is replete with hard-luck tales of horses who stayed too long in training. You could not blame Khalid Abdullah if he was to insist on retiring Frankel to stud, but the colt seems different, as he appears tough as well as fast.

As for next Saturday’s race, Frankel is the hottest favourite for a Group One race in years at a prohibitive 1-3. He should be even shorter, I would contend, for, unless the ground turns bottomless, he will win comfortably.

The Champions Day at Ascot is the initiative of Racing For Change, who have pinned much of their credibility on a day of championship racing.

There could be no more popular outcome for the big day than if the Indian summer of Sir Henry Cecil’s training career reached a zenith next Saturday. While Frankel is a given, if Cecil were to saddle Twice Over or Midday to win the Qipco Champion Stakes, it would surely be the icing on the cake of a memorable season for him.