By Paul Hayward
Only in racing are the best sent off to stud to produce new – or preferably better – versions of themselves. Roger Federer, say, will have fielded countless offers for his retirement years – but not that one.
To watch magisterial Thoroughbreds race is privilege enough. But we then get to see fresh manifestations of them arrive as foals. Champions retire but their progeny take over and keep the family story going.
For many of us the end of Frankel's racing career was hard to bear. Yours truly felt a bit better about it after a visit to Juddmonte to give him a pat and write about his new life as a stallion. His change of role was such big news that BBC Radio 5 Live broadcast a 90-minute programme on how it might turn out.
When I made the pilgrimage to Juddmonte, he was showing early promise. Now, he is the big daddy of sires. It's Frankel's world: we all just live in it.
The last week or so has affirmed once more his extraordinary potency. First, his grandson (via Cracksman) Ace Impact won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with an exhilarating burst of power. Chasing him home were two sons of Frankel, Westover and Onesto. A couple of hours later his daughter Kelina won the Group 1 Prix de Fôret. Longchamp's podium on Arc day was the Frankel show.
Then, four days later, a Frankel colt out of Bizzarria became (at current exchange rates) the most expensive yearling sold this year in Europe, falling to MV Magnier for 2 million guineas from Tattersalls October Book 1. Coolmore were splashing on a son of the fastest sire in history to reach 50 Group winners: a stallion with 10 Group 1 winners already in 2023.
To the bloodstock industry it's a numbers game. Yet each Frankel colt or filly represents him in a way more profound than the income generated or their status on a pedigree chart – important though they are.
On racetracks and in betting shops, most punters won't care who was the sire or dam of the quadruped carrying their bet, except as a piece of data (“will he get the trip?”). Readers of this publication will know that pedigrees are a richly fascinating second dimension for the sport: a realm of hit and miss, serendipitous pairings, and, when it works, eternal life for sire and dam.
There was a problem with sending Frankel to stud. It was virtually impossible for him to sire a superior son or daughter. The same might be said of Sea The Stars, and others. But Frankel had something extra: a perfect record of 14 wins and an exuberant, Hollywood racing style, topped off with a will – or make that a need – to win. And he raced on as a four-year-old, proof of his resilience.
The package felt unsurpassable. Even with the world's best mares to buddy up with, all Frankel could do was fertilise versions of himself that were good but less good than he had been. There were other frontiers for him. His own racing range from three-to-four years old was eight-to-10 furlongs. Perhaps he could spawn a champion mile-and-a-half-horse, or even a stayer? Well, this year he has laid claim to an Ascot Gold Cup winner (Courage Mon Ami) and, as grandsire, the best middle-distance horse in Europe, Ace Impact.
The successful second life bestowed on arguably the greatest horse to have
raced in Britain is immensely pleasing.
By Galileo, 12 times the champion sire in Europe, Frankel is creating a dynasty almost as striking as his 10 Group 1 wins on the track from 2010-2012, that golden age.
Twelve per cent of his runners have won Group races. In 2023 he has dispatched from his boudoir the 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean and Soul Sister, who won the Oaks. Last year his nine Group 1 winners made him the world's leading stallion by that measure. Westover, Nashwa, Homeless Songs, Alpinista and Inspiral were all his. His sons already at stud include Cracksman, Without Parole, Elarqam and Logician, who stands as a National Hunt stallion, as if to tick yet another box.
The successful second life bestowed on arguably the greatest horse to have raced in Britain is immensely pleasing. So many of his offspring present his urge to race and dominate – and to quicken. So many of them have natural enthusiasm – and gears. Now, he's a mellow soul led to daily dalliances. Never again will we see his sumptuous flowing stride. But he lives on as a racehorse. The entertainment he lavished on us renews itself.
You can't help feeling that racegoers who have no interest in pedigrees and think of breeding as a remote industrial satellite of betting are missing out.
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