FRANKEL

[bowles10]

having been hung drawn and quartered last week about flat racing being boring this year, we now have the talking point Frankel only 3 days away from signing off in great style deserves a thread of its own i firmly believe I see the bookies are running scared and only offering 1/5 this time !!! For me, the race is exactly what i was referring to in the other thread and i still rate NAthaniel and cant wait to see it run against the mighty horse Would be great to sample the atmosphere although not sure Ascot has the old atmosphere it used to, but will be a great occasion. My dad is going so i will see if he can get me a card from the day

[cpo]

Re: FRANKEL I really hope he wins but I fear for him if it turns heavy. He may still be good enough to win but CDA and Nathaniel will handle it. Would they dare not run him if it turns into a bog? Definitely looks the toughest assignment of his career given he has only had 1 run at the trip and Ascot will stretch him even more especially in the conditions. I think its written in the stars however, that he starts and ends his career in the same way by beating Nathaniel.

[erhaab1965]

Re: FRANKEL Why are most bookies at the ante post stage offering EW terms of 1/4 odds 2 places with a few offering 1/5 3 places ? In the Juddmonte 5 days before the event quite a few offered 1/4 odds 2 places despite having 10 runners at that stage. I think there were 8 eventual runners. Ripping off the punters !

[TheRat]

Re: FRANKEL I'm not going this year, but last years BCD was the best days racing I have been to and the atmosphere was amazing. This should be a cracker Frankel is still great for racing. All of my mates know who he is, even the ones with zero interest in the sport I have a sneaky feeling he will race on, but that's just me! They haven't categorically said it will be his last race

[robertob]

Re: FRANKEL I'm flying over tomorrow morning and can't wait to see the freak in flesh! Should be a great day at Ascot and a great day for racing... looks like a though challenge for him though - on paper at least. I think that he's so far ahead of the rest that he will beat them by a street again. Ground is drying from what I heard and dry conditions are expected for the weekend anyway. I have no doubts that Sir Henry will have him at his peak and I just hope we will see something really spectacular again.

[egg]

Re: FRANKEL Hope he wins but if not he's certainly been spectacular anyway for me. Things in sport stick in you mind especially the great moments. Ive seen many over the years but not any as breathtaking as the guineas he won., Top moments for me in Horse racing before him were: Arazi- breeders cup when he cut through the field round the home bend as if the rest were standing still. Desert Orchid winning his last King George. Best Mate winning his third Gold Cup. Simon Holts commentary was terrific on Frankel last time "They can't get him off the bridle" priceless!

[Crazycoolkat]

Re: FRANKEL Slightly off topic, but was having a chat with a Racing Post employee over the weekend, who suggested that Frankel is that good that he could win a Champion Hurdle. After about 90 mins of discussion we agreed to disagree, just wondered what the general consensus on here was? Personally I would have loved to see him go abroad for at least one race, but understand why that hasn't happened. As for the Champion Hurdle, I suppose it is possible he could stay.

[mowgli77]

Re: FRANKEL I think they might send it to the Breeders Cup but they'd be taking a risk running it again next year if they want to make plenty from stud fees. If it was to get a fatal injury then they'd be kissing goodbye to millions. I noticed that awful phrase about it being a public horse, what a crock of horse manure. We are told that the trainer and owners decide where it runs (not going to the Arc etc) and then get told it's a public horse and Teddy Grimthorpe seems to hint that it might not retire. As racing fans we'd love to see it for another year but we understand that breeding makes millions and totally understand if it was packed off to get its end away. They say Kauto Star is a public horse but in my opinion they are going to run that one into the ground and kill it.

[bowles10]

Re: FRANKEL cant believe the stories im seeing about concern on the gorund conditiosn, the rain wasnt that heavy today and a dry day forecast tomorrow here as im local surely they wont pull it are they nervous? i doubt it, is it just PR? i expect it is Frankel doesnt need this type of build up just turn up and win if you are the best

[south_eastern_ram]

Re: FRANKEL Khalid Abdulla must have so much money you'd think the money from stud fees wouldnt matter to him, wouldnt to me if i had the money he did. Run him another year or two and keep a legend going.

[Falbrav]

Re: FRANKEL Frankel has lungs as big as a boat and has to fall over to lose if turning up fit and well, as we're told he is. The horse is a freak of nature and is unbeatable. He will handle heavy ground, no reason why he won't after handling all other grounds, and he can do it from the front and from behind. The ultimate horse who will win again today. Simples.

[NoFear]

Re: FRANKEL This horse is a fighter, isnt he. For a minute I thought, he wont make it.

[LoveNorthernRacing]

Re: FRANKEL I saw William Hills went Even money on Frankel for a little while (£10 stake max), nice offer for the average punter to make a few quid off the horse.

[Aidymac]

Re: FRANKEL At least now nobody can ever say Frankel beat nothing... Excelebration hacked up again today, put Nathaniel to sleep, missed the break completely and still shat all over Cirrus. Although to be fair to Cirrus, it ran a belter.

[BKI Punter]

Re: FRANKEL Lol, still on the bridle against Cirrus on near heavy ground with a furlong to run! Still displayed an immediate response when asked to put the race to bed, but ground and poor start can account for the fact he didn't go further clear. On good ground he wins by at least six. I even feel relief now, I get a horrible feeling every time he goes into the stalls even though he's unbeatable.

[BillyHills]

Re: FRANKEL Funny how all the doubters that were on the PL pre-race and none seem to be around now? I suppose it was just another boring race to them. Fantastic performance in every way, feel very privileged to have seen the horse and i'm a jumps fan of 40 years!!

[jayalexander]

Re: FRANKEL I must admit, doubts came into my mind when I saw the ground, although I desperately wanted to see him win. Glad he did. He dominated all that set out to beat him since his first race on 13th August 2010 - it was even a Friday!

[stewartd14]

Re: FRANKEL The horse is a superstar. Has truly caught the imagination, and today he showed something special. He is completely unbeatable and showed it today. As a racing fan, I'm a little bit gutted he isn't going to the Breeders Cup to prove he truly is the best, but can obviously understand the owner's point of view in retiring him. Just a true wonderhorse. The best I've ever seen for sure.

[scotty657]

Re: FRANKEL Excelebration was just awesome.....and this is the same horse Frankel has easily won over more than once :clap

[bowles10]

Yep it was all it was hyped up to be a crowning of a superstar and although in our hearts we knew it couldn't lose this was a stiffer test of its ability as the ground cam into play and for once we had a decent animal that frankel had to pass rather than those who have only ever seen its backside this season I went in for the under 4 l bet as I felt this would not be a walkover

[Aidymac]

Re: FRANKEL Bowles, sorry, but Excelebration is a top class animal. Please don't say Excelebration is not a decent animal.

[bowles10]

Agreed excelebration proved yesterday that apart from frankel it's the best miler in training I've seen it race frankel a few times and frankel was in a different county perhaps the Irish horse needed some cut to show how good it is as it didn't do it for me on fast ground

[Aidymac]

Re: FRANKEL

Agreed excelebration proved yesterday that apart from frankel it's the best miler in training I've seen it race frankel a few times and frankel was in a different county perhaps the Irish horse needed some cut to show how good it is as it didn't do it for me on fast ground

Or else Frankel is just a far better horse. That would be the logical explanation.

[cpo]

Re: FRANKEL Excelebration is clearly a very high class animal himself as he showed yesterday but have to agree with Bowles in regards to the ground. It would have been very interesting had Frankel and Excelebration met a few times over a mile on genuine soft ground. I still believe Frankel would probably win every time but I doubt the winning margins would have been anywhere near as far.

[Aidymac]

Re: FRANKEL

Excelebration is clearly a very high class animal himself as he showed yesterday but have to agree with Bowles in regards to the ground. It would have been very interesting had Frankel and Excelebration met a few times over a mile on genuine soft ground. I still believe Frankel would probably win every time but I doubt the winning margins would have been anywhere near as far.

Well Frankel prefers good or faster ground, so that's just stating the obvious. You can't bolt off in soft ground like he can on faster ground. I never expected Frankel to hack up yesterday, i was thinking a 2-3 length win would be a superb run against Cirrus, who absolutely loves soft ground. You also have to factor in the bad start Frankel got yesterday, as BKI said it would have been 5-6 lengths had he broke away on terms, it took a lot of effort to pass Cirrus on the sticky ground, and i think he was much better than the bare result as the race didn't go to plan at all, which really emphasises his class for me. Would Excelebration be closer to Frankel on soft ground? Yes would be my answer. Doesn't mean he would give Frankel a race though.

[TheRat]

Re: FRANKEL Can't believe people are still trying to pick holes in his career.

[BKI Punter]

Re: FRANKEL Frankel would have still mullered Excel on soft as he would have been ridden differently over a mile and nearer the pace. His cruising speed would naturally take him 4/5 lengths clear of the field and if Excel kept up with him, he'd finish tired and well beaten. Yesterday Excel had everything in his favour to show exactly what kind of a horse he is in his own right and he didn't disappoint.

[harrisman]

Re: FRANKEL happened to bump into someone last night who i know is mainly a NH fan (like me really) His view was that some of the superlatives have been over done as he never competed in the recognised classics. IE the Derby and the Arc

[fintron]

Re: FRANKEL Often in his career it became a case of how far queally wanted him to win by. He's beaten the second highest rated horse in training (at least I think that's what I read) who had his ideal conditions, on ground slower than ideal for himself. It is very hard to knock that, he is an absolute beast. My memories of him will be the guineas win when he outpaced the pacemaker and when the news stories broke about him out speeding a passenger train on the gallops which was a real headline grabber! It was after his York win that I finally bought into the hype

[fintron]

Re: FRANKEL Here are the world thoroughbred rankings http://www.horseracingintfed.com/racingDisplay.asp?section=22 Some above mentioned Excelebration - he is 6th, nathaniel 4th, cirrus 2nd, frankel beat them all.