ASCOT (England), June 20: Racegoers left a sun-kissed opening day at Royal Ascot wondering whether they had just seen the best racehorse of all time after Frankel’s scintillating victory in the Queen Anne Stakes.
The five-day fixture erupted into life from flagfall when Frankel, now unbeaten after 11 races, delivered his show of strength under jockey Tom Queally.
The colt’s 11-length dismissal of Excelebration, who just resisted Side Glance for the runner-up berth, left an indelible impression on all who saw it.
It was a performance in keeping with a horse who ventured at Ascot with official endorsement as the world’s best racehorse. The question now is how much higher can he fly?
The Sir Henry Cecil-trained horse has already surpassed anything previously seen by employees of Timeform, the much-respected publication which assesses thoroughbred merit.
Soon after the race Timeform allocated Frankel a provisional rating of 147, which surpasses anything it is accorded in its 64-year history.
And Frankel may yet better that rating.
Following his electrifying triumph, Frankel was walked along the length of Ascot’s giant grandstand for the benefit of appreciative fans.
There was barely any sweat on a horse which posted a time within one second of the track record on ground saturated by heavy rain on Saturday.
In the race itself Frankel was always well placed behind an even gallop dictated by his pacemaker, Bullet Train.
He moved through to lead approaching the two-furlong marker, with Excelebration in his slipstream, but one look at a motionless Queally underlined that Frankel had plenty more to offer.
When given his head, the bay son of multiple champion sire Galileo accelerated away from his pursuers with rare gusto.
The margin of victory was more extravagant than that by which Frankel won last year’s Two Thousand Guineas.
Each of his 11 triumphs has been gained over one mile but the colt is due to race over a mile and a quarter – perhaps in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park next month.
Following Frankel’s remarkable triumph, the baton now passes to Australia’s sprinting sensation, Black Caviar, who bids to extend her own unbeaten streak to 22 in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes on Saturday.—AFP