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Very good reading, this thread (even for this NH fan).
I know little about breeding – it strikes me as more of a lottery than it should be given the pairings/prices paid. But doubtless that’s a simplistic view.
The only thing I wanted to say was that, from the outset, I was struck by how straight Frankel tracked (locomotion, as the man said). Very little wasted power as his hind quarters drove almost everything through to the front.
I forgot to add another reason for being excited – they are going to be running all over the world.
Here is another one for the list. The first Frankel foal born in the US. A bay colt out of Compelling, a half sister to Requinto. Her owner writes all about the breeding experience on this link – http://www.juddmonte.com/news/2014/3001 … lling.aspx
Worth a read.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
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The point I was making about Frankel’s physiology was actually little to do with his physique. Whilst obviously he was incredibly muscular and powerful he wasn’t overly big or tall. The uninitiated (like me) wouldn’t necessarily have been able to pick him out in the paddock as being exceptional. It was what he was able to DO with that physique that WAS exceptional. Two things really stand out.
His stride was beautiful, as Secreteriat was described, like a machine. When Frankel was at full charge it was like watching a 100m sprinter with perfect technique, dead straight with absolutely no wasted energy at all.
EDIT – just realised this is pretty much what steeplechasing just said. Two great minds think alike
Slighty off topic, another horse who runs as straight as an arrow with a lovely, almost mechanical stride is Night Of Thunder who’ll hopefully run in this year’s 2000. There is Galileo blood running somewhere through his veins. Watch the manner of his two wins and observe the action…
http://www.chroma.premiumtv.co.uk/streaming/watch/RacingUKFlashVOD/partnerId_166/videoFileId_13405219/clipId_2289033/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyMtbq1eFPc
Slighty off topic, another horse who runs as straight as an arrow with a lovely, almost mechanical stride is Night Of Thunder who’ll hopefully run in this year’s 2000. There is Galileo blood running somewhere through his veins. Watch the manner of his two wins and observe the action…
http://www.chroma.premiumtv.co.uk/streaming/watch/RacingUKFlashVOD/partnerId_166/videoFileId_13405219/clipId_2289033/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyMtbq1eFPc
Very impressive Rob. And 20’s for the Guineas!
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
Nearly all his foals will be line bred to Northern Dancer. That is what will make him different to the previous highly rated stallions.
There were a lot of Hyperion line mares when Tudor Minstrel was around, but there was also a much wider gene pool then. It will be interesting to see what line breeding to Danehill et al will produce. Though I tend to side with the earlier poster who said he might do better with less well bred mares, maybe those with less Northern Dancer, but they will be very hard to find.
Some of the foals already have as many as 5 crosses of Northern Dancer. It might be taking the pitcher to the well too many times.In the circumstances Brigadier Gerard did quite well at the stud, his pedigree wasn’t fashionable, though he was from a good female line & a better physical specimen than Frankel.. He became sterile early on I believe, and the Hislops controlled the matings.
To go back to Tudor Minstrel, he was one of the highly rated stallions that did quite well at the stud, as did Abernant. As Hyperion line stallions in the 50s-60s they will have encountered some Hyperion line mares, which is encouraging for Frankel. I will investigate the statistics.
Slighty off topic, another horse who runs as straight as an arrow with a lovely, almost mechanical stride is Night Of Thunder who’ll hopefully run in this year’s 2000. There is Galileo blood running somewhere through his veins. Watch the manner of his two wins and observe the action…
http://www.chroma.premiumtv.co.uk/streaming/watch/RacingUKFlashVOD/partnerId_166/videoFileId_13405219/clipId_2289033/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyMtbq1eFPc
A view of the second race from helmet cam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-dQA6wvaTpk
Charles Darwin to conquer the World
will he face some competition from Sea the Stars stock?It will be worth following for a season or two.
Thanks, Nathan. Looks a lovely horse – would like to have been able to see better camera shots but he seems to keep his head/neck remarkably still compared with others. Doesn’t stretch his neck quite in the way Frankel does, but would be interested to see him on better ground (dam was reportedly mudlark). Still, from what I could see, he does look very well balanced.
Thanks to Rob.
I just put the head on cam up as I knew there was one of him on there.
Personally I would love to see Canford Cliffs succeed as a stallion, he’s got the complete opposite type of pedigree and really unfashionable in comparison to Frankel but punched way above his weight on the racecourse then what his pedigree would suggest, I read on the Hannon website that he was the last of his year to be sold as a yearling…….
Charles Darwin to conquer the World
I loved Canford Cliffs too, Nathan. I even think he would have given Frankel a bit of a race in the Sussex if he had not have broken down in the last few furlongs.
That physical weakness could be his undoing as a stallion, though. He had issues as a two-year-old in spite of being very precocious and then cracked again in his final race.
Although crock Footstepsinthesand continues to do decent business under the Coolmore banner, they probably won’t give CC many opportunities with homebred mares if he produces similarly unsound types.
Frankel was consistently brilliant as a fast two-year-old, then peerless at three and even more versatile at four. He ran regularly on fast ground for three seasons without niggles, injuries or any concerns. Hopefully he can transfer that to his stock and help to give a little more strength to the breed as a whole.
I even think he would have given Frankel a bit of a race in the Sussex if he had not have broken down in the last few furlongs.
While some people feel that Canford Cliffs may not have been at the peak of his ability, I don’t think he was that far off. He was just simply outgunned by a superior rival. Frankel covered the last furlong with 25 strides and Canford Cliffs 27.
Funnily enough, in the 2012 Sussex, Frankel again ran the last furlong with 25 strides and Farhh 27.
In the 2013 Sussex, Toronado also ran his last furlong with 27 strides.
I think Canford Cliffs can be forgiven for being ‘outgunned’ when running the last few furlongs with a fractured pastern!
I am not saying that he would have beaten Frankel or even cut him down to less than a couple of lengths, but it was clear the horse was in some discomfort by the way he swerved across the track. The margin would have been much smaller but for the injury. It was very much like Cockney Rebel’s final race, where he swerved to the left after damaging his pelvis.
Canford Cliffs never ran with a fractured pastern
He veered just like he did in the 2010 Greenham.Then, a ‘shadow’ on his pastern showed up on a X-ray a week later (would have loved to seen the X-ray as proof). That shadow could’ve been anything (serious … or maybe not). For all we know, that shadow could’ve been there when he beat Goldikova in the Queen Anne. The stud value of CC was certainly at stake hence why they decided to retire him. I also felt that team Hannon couldn’t get their heads around the fact that their superstar was crushed by a racing phenomenon. I’m afraid I have to take their story/excuse with a grain of salt.
Frankel had an easy lead.
Canford Cliffs wouldn’t have beat Frankel if the race had been 2 runners, 20 runners, slow pace, fast pace, front run, held up or with wings but that would be the case for any horse over a mile against Frankel.
I don’t think losing to Frankel would detract from the stud fee of Canford Cliffs likewise Excelebration who was many times the bridesmaid but both held their own in other company and more chance his stud fee would go down if Frankel wasn’t racing on the day and he lost to a horse like Rio De La Plata I would have thought.Charles Darwin to conquer the World
I was a bit sceptical at the time and was disappointed that team Hannon seemed to be wanting to take the gloss off a brilliant performance by Frankel. Now I don’t care. Time showed that CC, a very, very good 130 animal, would never have lived with a 140+ legend.
For what it’s worth CC certainly ran below par that day (he had beaten RDLP 5 lengths in the QA lto and only beat him 2 1/2 lengths that day) but he wasn’t the first or the last good horse to under-perform against Frankel. Frankel took them out of their comfort zone and most didn’t like it. CC was a great horse but he did have that tendency to drift when under extreme pressure.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
He veered just like he did in the 2010 Greenham.
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