20/10/12 – Rarely has a racehorse captured the hearts of an entire country in the way that Frankel has in the last twelve months. The very popular National Hunt heroes Desert Orchid and Kauto Star spring to mind but neither created the tide of emotion witnessed at Ascot last weekend.
Trained by the ever popular Newmarket based Henry Cecil, Frankel has been ridden by Irish jockey Tom Queally in all of his races, the partnership securing their first Classic victory in the Qipco 2000 Guineas in 2011. From there onwards it has been a true fairy story culminating in ten Group 1 races (nine consecutive) and nine of the Qipco British Champion Series.
Frankel was born in 2008 at Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket and bred by Prince Khalid Abdulla. The winning combination of both well renowned sire Galileo and Juddmonte bred dam, Kind, produced this impressive looking bay colt who inherited his mother’s laid-back temperament. He is aptly named after one of the greatest American trainers of all time, Bobby Frankel, who died in 2009 and who had also successfully trained horses for Prince Khalid.