Frankel (horse)

Frankel (foaled 11 February 2008) is a retired champion British Thoroughbred racehorse and current sire. He was unbeaten in his fourteen-race career and was the highest-rated racehorse in the world from May 2011. He was trained by Sir Henry Cecil in Newmarket and ridden in all his races by Tom Queally. In 2010 Frankel defeated a field including subsequent Group 1 winners Nathaniel and Colour Vision on his debut before winning the Royal Lodge Stakes by ten lengths and the Dewhurst Stakes in which he defeated the Middle Park Stakes winner Dream Ahead. As a three-year-old, he won the Classic 2000 Guineas by six lengths, the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, defeated the outstanding older miler Canford Cliffs in the much-anticipated Sussex Stakes at Goodwood and won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. Frankel extended his unbeaten record in 2012 by winning the Lockinge Stakes, the Queen Anne Stakes and then the Sussex Stakes for a second time. In August he was moved up to a mile and a quarter for the first time and won the International Stakes at York. In October he won the Champion Stakes at Ascot, again over a mile and a quarter, following which his retirement from racing was announced. After his win in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October 2011, Frankel was given a rating of 143 by Timeform, the highest mark awarded by the organisation in over forty years and their fourth highest of all time behind Sea Bird, Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel. In June 2012, following his win in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, Timeform raised its provisional rating to 147, making him the highest-rated horse in the organisation's history. In January 2013 Timeform announced that his final rating at the end of his racing career was also 147. In January 2013, the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings Committee ranked Frankel as the best racehorse they had assessed since their ratings were introduced in 1977, by a margin of two points. The ratings had been recalibrated, since it was believed that in the early years of the scheme horses had been treated more generously than in recent years. Frankel's rating was confirmed at 140, but Dancing Brave was reduced from 141 to 138, Alleged from 140 to 134 and Shergar from 140 to 136. Since 1900, of British-bred racehorses only Ribot has won more races and finished his career unbeaten (racing largely in Italy). Frankel's performance in the 2000 Guineas has been described as "one of the greatest displays on a British racecourse". Since retiring to stud, Frankel sired notable offspring including Classic winners Adayar (Derby), Hurricane Lane (Irish Derby, St Leger), Logician (St Leger), Anapurna (Oaks), Hungry Heart (Australian Oaks) and Soul Stirring (Japanese Oaks), as well as Alpinista (Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe). He was the leading sire in Great Britain and Ireland in 2021.

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