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WORLD CLASS: an analysis of the international scene according to Racing Post Ratings:
For Frankel it was proof he could handle anything, for Cirrus Des Aigles it showed he could soar with a legend. It might have been muddy and it might have been tense, but the Champion Stakes was a high point in the careers of both Frankel and Cirrus Des Aigles.
Any number of match-ups had been mooted for Frankel this year. Black Caviar and Camelot were high on the list, while some Americans fancied Wise Dan to make him run. But the toughest test in 2012 would be to face Cirrus Des Aigles on soft ground.
The French gelding had won his last four starts on soft or heavy by eight, ten, eight and nine lengths. He is perfectly suited to testing conditions. He doesn’t have a turn-of-foot, but boy can he grind. He doesn’t stop for anything. Just keeps on keeping on.
He arrived on the back of a career best effort in the Prix Dollar – an effortless nine-length win – and given that he usually comes on for a run, even better was expected at Ascot. He won last year’s Champion Stakes and looked primed for a huge run this time. A huge second-place run.
Frankel was made to work in the bad ground, but this was the test which showed whether or not variables could get him beaten. If he could beat the second best horse in the world, who arrived in top form and had everything in his favour, then he would prove he was untouchable. He did.
The horse that always won, won again. The Champions Series finale, the Champion Stakes, on Champions Day, and it was all about one horse. The triple champion. European champion at two and undisputed world champion at three and four.
With Excelebration giving a timely lift to his entire back catalogue of form by running away with the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, the day was an all out celebration of the greatness of this one horse. It can’t get any better from here. Or can it?
Perhaps a little better. News came last week that after columns and columns devoted to getting the best horse in America to run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Wise Dan will instead run in the Mile. He is the best horse in the US on any surface, but connections believe he is better on turf.
The Mile looks a tougher race than the Classic this year, so it was a bold call, and one made to look even bolder after what Excelebration did on the weekend. So the situation is thus: the horse who has been beaten an average distance of 5.25 lengths by Frankel will take on the best horse in America on any surface… on his preferred surface.
The repercussions of this race are obvious for Frankel: he could conquer America by proxy. That once considered Breeders’ Cup Classic trip seems suddenly unnecessary. If Excelebration can prove himself better than the very best in America then what does that do for Frankel?
This sort of extreme hierarchy has been part of the Frankel story all along. Excelebration could never come close to the top dog, but he has won all eight starts since his debut when he has not faced Frankel.
No match for Frankel, but he won three Group 1s. No match for Frankel, but he won a Group 2 by six-lengths. No match for Frankel, but he might have been champion miler in another time.
Beyond Frankel and Excelebration, the four-year-olds as a whole have proved a very strong crop, winning most of the open Group 1s in Europe this year and regularly beating the three-year-olds out of sight. They include Nathaniel, Moonlight Cloud, Danedream, Solemia and even Japan’s top horse Orfevre. So there sits the king, atop a tree of unbelievable hierarchy.
Frankel only needed to run to 136+ on Saturday. The conditions were far from ideal, but he won all the same. Runner-up Cirrus Des Aigles, with perfect conditions and pushed by the best horse he’s ever run against posted a career best RPR of 132. Nathaniel (127) ran to form.
Frankel answered the ground question on the weekend, but from a form point of view Excelebration’s win in the QEII was perhaps even more important to his legacy.
Champions like Frankel needed horses like Excelebration to legitimise their legend. The Coolmore colt had always done a sterling job on this front, but it took until Saturday for him to show precisely how good he is.
When a horse is that inferior to another, the presumption is that there is a limit to his ability. But he quite clearly showed, when winning by a cosy three-lengths from Cityscape, that he would have been a true champion miler in another year.
He started his campaign with an easy win at the Curragh, then he was beaten five-lengths and 11-lengths by Frankel, then he won the Jacques Le Marois with something to spare, then ran away with the QEII. He’s a very smart horse in his own right. He’s just no match for Frankel.
In an early end-of-season shake-up Frankel’s peak RPRs from the Queen Anne and International have been raised to 143.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
WORLD CLASS: an analysis of the international scene according to Racing Post Ratings:
For Frankel it was proof he could handle anything, for Cirrus Des Aigles it showed he could soar with a legend. It might have been muddy and it might have been tense, but the Champion Stakes was a high point in the careers of both Frankel and Cirrus Des Aigles.
Any number of match-ups had been mooted for Frankel this year. Black Caviar and Camelot were high on the list, while some Americans fancied Wise Dan to make him run. But the toughest test in 2012 would be to face Cirrus Des Aigles on soft ground.
The French gelding had won his last four starts on soft or heavy by eight, ten, eight and nine lengths. He is perfectly suited to testing conditions. He doesn’t have a turn-of-foot, but boy can he grind. He doesn’t stop for anything. Just keeps on keeping on.
He arrived on the back of a career best effort in the Prix Dollar – an effortless nine-length win – and given that he usually comes on for a run, even better was expected at Ascot. He won last year’s Champion Stakes and looked primed for a huge run this time. A huge second-place run.
Frankel was made to work in the bad ground, but this was the test which showed whether or not variables could get him beaten. If he could beat the second best horse in the world, who arrived in top form and had everything in his favour, then he would prove he was untouchable. He did.
The horse that always won, won again. The Champions Series finale, the Champion Stakes, on Champions Day, and it was all about one horse. The triple champion. European champion at two and undisputed world champion at three and four.
With Excelebration giving a timely lift to his entire back catalogue of form by running away with the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, the day was an all out celebration of the greatness of this one horse. It can’t get any better from here. Or can it?
Perhaps a little better. News came last week that after columns and columns devoted to getting the best horse in America to run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Wise Dan will instead run in the Mile. He is the best horse in the US on any surface, but connections believe he is better on turf.
The Mile looks a tougher race than the Classic this year, so it was a bold call, and one made to look even bolder after what Excelebration did on the weekend. So the situation is thus: the horse who has been beaten an average distance of 5.25 lengths by Frankel will take on the best horse in America on any surface… on his preferred surface.
The repercussions of this race are obvious for Frankel: he could conquer America by proxy. That once considered Breeders’ Cup Classic trip seems suddenly unnecessary. If Excelebration can prove himself better than the very best in America then what does that do for Frankel?
This sort of extreme hierarchy has been part of the Frankel story all along. Excelebration could never come close to the top dog, but he has won all eight starts since his debut when he has not faced Frankel.
No match for Frankel, but he won three Group 1s. No match for Frankel, but he won a Group 2 by six-lengths. No match for Frankel, but he might have been champion miler in another time.
Beyond Frankel and Excelebration, the four-year-olds as a whole have proved a very strong crop, winning most of the open Group 1s in Europe this year and regularly beating the three-year-olds out of sight. They include Nathaniel, Moonlight Cloud, Danedream, Solemia and even Japan’s top horse Orfevre. So there sits the king, atop a tree of unbelievable hierarchy.
Frankel only needed to run to 136+ on Saturday. The conditions were far from ideal, but he won all the same. Runner-up Cirrus Des Aigles, with perfect conditions and pushed by the best horse he’s ever run against posted a career best RPR of 132. Nathaniel (127) ran to form.
Frankel answered the ground question on the weekend, but from a form point of view Excelebration’s win in the QEII was perhaps even more important to his legacy.
Champions like Frankel needed horses like Excelebration to legitimise their legend. The Coolmore colt had always done a sterling job on this front, but it took until Saturday for him to show precisely how good he is.
When a horse is that inferior to another, the presumption is that there is a limit to his ability. But he quite clearly showed, when winning by a cosy three-lengths from Cityscape, that he would have been a true champion miler in another year.
He started his campaign with an easy win at the Curragh, then he was beaten five-lengths and 11-lengths by Frankel, then he won the Jacques Le Marois with something to spare, then ran away with the QEII. He’s a very smart horse in his own right. He’s just no match for Frankel.
In an early end-of-season shake-up Frankel’s peak RPRs from the Queen Anne and International have been raised to 143.
Says it all Joni.
…the dream isn’t quite over then. We have the Breeders Cup to look forward to now.
"The horse that always won, won again."
BTW I may just have that quote put on a nice decorative plate along with my favourite Frankel photograph.
don’t get me wrong, there are a few things that are unarguable. One, that he’s the best horse around at the moment. two, that he put up some sensational performances. three, that he’s one of the best milers we’ll ever see.
but the big question, is he the best horse that ever lived. I would argue that he just isn’t.
take some of the evidence given in his favour. one of the things that is generally supposed to be exceptional about frankel, is his ability to sustain a relentless gallop.
but then if you want evidence of relentlessness, dancing braves victory at goodwood before the arc, was a good example of that. he also broke the track record in that race. (of course, naive of me to think that breaking track records matters.
)another piece of evidence is his sensational sectionals. Well for one thing I doubt he’s ever done a furlong faster than the brave’s penultimate furlong in his unlucky defeat in the 1986 derby http://youtu.be/m4ya2HPJpyI
as for track records, most if not all of the other horses in the list to be considered "the greatest" broke track records.
Sea bird II broke four track records. dancing brave, brigadier gerard, ribot, secretariat all set track records.
although maybe i’m lacking understanding and common sense to ask naive questions like "why didn’t he break track records"
EGS,
In the space of two days, 27th and 28th July 1999 four Goodwood track records went. Rudi’s Pet 5f, Mowbray 1m6f, Bachir 6f and Aljabr 1m. Were all of those World beaters? Did four exceptional racehorses run at Goodwood those two days? Does Dancing Brave still hold that track record? If not who beat him? Was it a better horse than Dancing Brave?Track records need the ground to be quite firm. It is also easier to break a course record if few top class horses run over that distance. Goodwood does not even have a Group race at 1m2f. Not sure whether either the old Predominate or Lupe were 1m2f? Think the former was 1m3f, at least it was.
The Select Stakes was only listed until upped to a Group 3 in 1986 (Dancing Brave’s year). So if a really good Group 1 horse turns up in the Select Stakes, over a trip few top class horses run – on a firm surface – given a truly run race – it would be odds-on for Dancing Brave to beat the track record.
These days racecourses make sure they don’t get really quick firm ground for their best races. Frankel hasn’t Back in the 80’s 70’s and 60’s watering wasn’t anywhere near so widespread. Frankel has run on good-firm, but always on racecourses where there’s been plenty of top class racehorses over the years. Therefore, any horse would need really firm ground to break a course record.
A horse needs either very firm ground OR ground on the firm side of good over a trip where few good horses have raced before.
Frankel has put up more exceptional Timeform Timefigures than any other horse in history. So not only is his furlong speed been unbelievable, but the overall times are too.
Value Is EverythingFor Frankel it was proof he could handle anything, for Cirrus Des Aigles it showed he could soar with a legend.
This sums it up for me. Frankel had to show the world what he had never had to show before: guts. Only through racing against Cirrus Des Aigles on soft ground was this possible, and I suspect it won him over a great many fans.
Cirrus Des Aigles proved himself to be the second best in the world when he gets his ideal circumstances. The only horse to ever really get Frankel ‘at it’.
For many, the esteem in which both horses are held benefited from the gutsy performance of the other.
In fairness to Frankel, if the ground had been good to firm at ascot this year, he would have smashed the track record out of sight, as that was a sensational run in the queen anne.
I guess this isn’t about frankel really, who’s obviously a brilliant horse, and it’s not his fault his connections wrapped him up in cotton wool
I think it’s more about the hyperbole that seems to exist in racing these days. it seems to me that everyone rushes to anoint a champion, in most cases before their career has even finished. Surely we’d have a better perspective on frankel a few years from now? when the dust has settled? or perhaps not.
As someone pointed out nick mordin does indeed seem to have some bitterness when it comes to frankel. I recall him coming up with some pretty daft theories about the horse. One he kept banging on about was how the short straight at ascot wouldn’t suit him (a strange theory about a horse with an electric turn of foot)
But surely the daftest mordin theory of all, was the one he presented before the 2000 guineas. apparently frankel’s 2 year old rating was "too high" for him to have any chance.
How I guffawed at that
In fairness to Frankel, if the ground had been good to firm at ascot this year, he would have smashed the track record out of sight, as that was a sensational run in the queen anne.
I guess this isn’t about frankel really, who’s obviously a brilliant horse, and it’s not his fault his connections wrapped him up in cotton wool
I think it’s more about the hyperbole that seems to exist in racing these days. it seems to me that everyone rushes to anoint a champion, in most cases before their career has even finished. Surely we’d have a better perspective on frankel a few years from now? when the dust has settled? or perhaps not.
As someone pointed out nick mordin does indeed seem to have some bitterness when it comes to frankel. I recall him coming up with some pretty daft theories about the horse. One he kept banging on about was how the short straight at ascot wouldn’t suit him (a strange theory about a horse with an electric turn of foot)
But surely the daftest mordin theory of all, was the one he presented before the 2000 guineas. apparently frankel’s 2 year old rating was "too high" for him to have any chance.
How I guffawed at that
Looks like we are close to reaching agreement EGS!
Certainly agree that Mordin is a cretin. My only contention with your post is that I can’t think of too many horses in the last 25 years that have been dubbed "the greatest ever." Perhaps it was said after Dancing Brave but that was surely with good reason. Perhaps some said it after Sea The Stars but again I couldn’t argue with that and yes people are saying it now after Frankel. Other than those I can’t think of too many examples.
I am sure you are right that we will have a better perspective on Frankel’s achievements in a few years but what we may forget with the passing of years is the feeling he created in so many who saw him. For me that was something physical and in the moment. Something I had not experienced before and something that I can state categorically today.
Also he has been with us for 3 seasons so it isn’t just a knee jerk reaction to, for example, a great 3 year old career, but a reaction to a whole career. Will we have to wait a few years to properly appreciate Denman or Kauto? I am not so sure.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
Do I think Frankel is better than Dancing Brave? I’ll let you all know after Saturday
Well, it is now over three days since Saturday
There are probably some of you on here who’re aware that I’m a massive fan of Dancing Brave … so much that, since 1986, he’s been my favourite horse. I honestly believed that I’d never see another horse to equal him. Sea The Stars was a very good horse but he just never gripped me like DB did. There’s no doubt in my mind that DB would’ve had the measure of STS over any distance up to 12 furlongs.
Before I go on, let me say that Brigadier Gerard, Nijinsky and Mill Reef were racing when I was barely out of my nappies and I’m afraid I was still a single cell hiding somewhere in the seminiferous tubules of my Dad’s balls when Sea Bird was running. So I can’t really make judgement on those greats.
Dancing Brave is still my 12 furlong monster who possessed a turn of foot so venomous that I’m sure he’d have given
any
horse major cause for concern if he’d have been within a two or three length proximity with 2 furlongs to go (except the only time he didn’t fire was in the Breeder’s Cup where he was cooked coming into the home straight and looked like an ill horse). This horse should’ve achieved a higher rating had he won the Derby but many people often knock him down because of the fact that he failed at Epsom. Nevertheless, he was blessed with tremendous versatility, lovely temperament and the tactical speed of a 5F sprinter.
Then a horse called Frankel comes along…
Over these last 3 years, I’ve been totally blown away Frankel’s performances … from his 2000 Guineas destruction to the way he took off like a UFO in the Queen Anne. I’ve never seen a Flat horse that can crush rivals on a consistent scale like he did. If Dancing Brave was a heatseeking missile that intercepted anything that appeared on its IR/UV sensor, then Frankel was an armour-plated war machine primed with deadly artillery to obliterate any would-be attacker from all directions. That’s what made him so watchable, exciting and addictive with his raw power, blinding speed, adaptable style and the blessed ability to run on just about all kinds of ground.
Frankel is greatest horse I’ve seen and gets the nod over my old favourite Dancing Brave.
Do I think Frankel is better than Dancing Brave? I’ll let you all know after Saturday
Well, it is now over three days since Saturday
There are probably some of you on here who’re aware that I’m a massive fan of Dancing Brave … so much that, since 1986, he’s been my favourite horse. I honestly believed that I’d never see another horse to equal him. Sea The Stars was a very good horse but he just never gripped me like DB did. There’s no doubt in my mind that DB would’ve had the measure of STS over any distance up to 12 furlongs.
Before I go on, let me say that Brigadier Gerard, Nijinsky and Mill Reef were racing when I was barely out of my nappies and I’m afraid I was still a single cell hiding somewhere in the seminiferous tubules of my Dad’s balls when Sea Bird was running. So I can’t really make judgement on those greats.
Dancing Brave is still my 12 furlong monster who possessed a turn of foot so venomous that I’m sure he’d have given
any
horse major cause for concern if he’d have been within a two or three length proximity with 2 furlongs to go (except the only time he didn’t fire was in the Breeder’s Cup where he was cooked coming into the home straight and looked like an ill horse). This horse should’ve achieved a higher rating had he won the Derby but many people often knock him down because of the fact that he failed at Epsom. Nevertheless, he was blessed with tremendous versatility, lovely temperament and the tactical speed of a 5F sprinter.
Then a horse called Frankel comes along…
Over these last 3 years, I’ve been totally blown away Frankel’s performances … from his 2000 Guineas destruction to the way he took off like a UFO in the Queen Anne. I’ve never seen a Flat horse that can crush rivals on a consistent scale like he did. If Dancing Brave was a heatseeking missile that intercepted anything that appeared on its IR/UV sensor, then Frankel was an armour-plated war machine primed with deadly artillery to obliterate any would-be attacker from all directions. That’s what made him so watchable, exciting and addictive with his raw power, blinding speed, adaptable style and the blessed ability to run on just about all kinds of ground.
Frankel is greatest horse I’ve seen and gets the nod over my old favourite Dancing Brave.
Great post Rob. Does this mean you will be changing "Class of 86" though?!!!
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
Okay I can`t let this go without a comment,to name some of the greats
Phar lap
secretariat
Sea Bird
Eclipse
Kincsem
Dancing Brave
brigadier gerard
Ribbot
man O warI am sure these champions would have had a thing or two to say about frankel being the "greatest ever".
I have been to see him run twice as at three year old and then at four again and might agree may never see another like him but he is one of the greatest races horse ever in my book.
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