2011 WORLD THOROUGHBRED RANKINGS

J J The Jet Plane (SAF)
(Photo : Hong Kong Jockey Club)

WORLD THOROUGHBRED RANKINGS

#	Rating	Horse	Country	YOF	Sex
1	136	FRANKEL	GB	2008	C
2	132	BLACK CAVIAR	AUS	2006	M
3	128	CIRRUS DES AIGLES	FR	2006	G
3	128	DANEDREAM	GER	2008	F
5	127	CANFORD CLIFFS	IRE	2007	C
5	127	REWILDING	GB	2007	C
7	126	DREAM AHEAD	USA	2008	C
7	126	EXCELEBRATION	IRE	2008	C
7	126	NATHANIEL	IRE	2008	C
7	126	SO YOU THINK	NZ	2006	H
11	125	TWICE OVER	GB	2005	H
11	125	WORKFORCE	GB	2007	C
14	124	DROSSELMEYER	USA	2007	C
14	124	GOLDIKOVA	IRE	2005	M
14	124	ST NICHOLAS ABBEY	IRE	2007	C
17	123	ACCLAMATION	USA	2006	H
17	123	AMERICAIN	USA	2005	H
17	123	ORFEVRE	JPN	2008	C
17	123	SEPOY	AUS	2008	C
17	123	STRONG SUIT	USA	2008	C
17	123	TIZWAY	USA	2005	H
23	122	AMBITIOUS DRAGON	NZ	2006	G
23	122	BEHKABAD	FR	2007	C
23	122	CALEB’S POSSE	USA	2008	C
23	122	CAPE BLANCO	IRE	2007	C
23	122	DICK TURPIN	IRE	2007	C
23	122	GAME ON DUDE	USA	2007	G
23	122	HAY LIST	AUS	2005	G
23	122	J J THE JET PLANE	SAF	2004	G
23	122	MEANDRE	FR	2008	C
23	122	PLANTEUR	IRE	2007	C
23	122	POUR MOI	IRE	2008	C
23	122	RELIABLE MAN	GB	2008	C
23	122	SNOW FAIRY	IRE	2007	F
23	122	TOSDEN JORDAN	JPN	2006	H
23	122	VICTOIRE PISA	JPN	2007	C

SOUTH AFRICAN RUNNERS

#	Rating	Horse	Country	YOF	Sex
23	122	J J THE JET PLANE	SAF	2004	G
80	119	BOLD SILVANO	SAF	2006	H
99	118	IGUGU	AUS	2007	F
99	118	VARIETY CLUB	SAF	2008	C
136	117	WHAT A WINTER	SAF	2007	C
136	117	MUSIR	AUS	2006	H
190	116	DANCEWITHTHEDEVIL	SAF	2006	M
190	116	PIERRE JOURDAN	SAF	2006	G
248	115	BIG CITY LIFE	SAF	2005	H
248	115	BRAVURA	SAF	2006	G
248	115	PAST MASTER	SAF	2006	H
248	115	SHEA SHEA	SAF	2007	C
248	115	THE APACHE	SAF	2007	C

International Federation of Horseracing Authorities

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FRANKEL EXPLOSIVE IN DEWHURST STAKES VICTORY

Click above to watch Frankel winning the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes (Gr1)
(Photo : Dailymail / Footage : Racing UK)

DUBAI DEWHURST STAKES (GR1)

It was billed as a three-horse war, but it turned into a one-man show in yesterday’s Dewhurst Stakes (Gr1) at Newmarket.

Odds-on chalk Frankel (Galileo) swept to the front inside the quarter pole and strode up the hill under a hand ride to best Roderic O’Connor (Galileo) by 2 1/4 lengths.

The unbeaten Frankel had raced keenly through the early strides following trouble leaving the gate, but picked up impressively, causing winning jockey Tom Queally to comment, “He’s a superstar, and he’s done it when it mattered. He’s something very special.”

First coming to attention when winning a mile maiden on soft ground at Newmarket’s July course on debut 13 August, Frankel showed what he was really capable of when he strolled home by 13 lengths from subsequent Prix Marcel Boussac (Gr1) third Rainbow Springs (Selkirik) in a Doncaster conditions event on his next outing 10 September.

The homebred stunned the crowd at Ascot on his last run, quickening clear at the quarter pole to destroy his rivals in the Royal Lodge Stakes (Gr2) by 10 lengths.

With news emanating from Newmarket of a spectacular piece of work last Saturday, further improvement seemed possible, and he was sent postward as a strong favorite despite the ground apparently softening in favor of his main market rival and dual Group 1 winner Dream Ahead (Diktat). Squeezed out as he broke from the stalls, the eventual winner pulled for his head at the rear of the field as Roderic O’Connor towed them through the early stages.

Queally allowed the muscular bay to stride on up to the leaders at the two-furlong marker, and his whip was not deployed as Frankel took it up 100 yards later before running on strongly to the line. Queally explained, “He received a bump leaving the stalls and it set him alight, whereas at Ascot he put his head down and relaxed, but he quickened up well and put the race to bed. Probably on the ground he wandered off a true line, but we’ll forgive him that.”

Trainer Henry Cecil, taking this prestigious contest for the first time since Diesis in 1982, opined, “In his work he’s very relaxed, but when you get a nasty bump like that, it makes a difference and it set him alight. He won well and Tom didn’t need to hit him with the whip. It was lovely. I have to thank the Prince (Khalid Abdullah) for sending him to me.” Regarding plans for next year, the veteran conditioner said, “I’m hopeful that he will make a 2000 Guineas (Gr1) horse and maybe the St James’ Palace (Gr1); whether he will get further, we’ll have to see, and I’ll need to talk to the Prince about that.”

The owner’s racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe, expressed the view that his targets were not yet set in stone. “I think that we’re not going to dismiss the Epsom Derby (Gr1) lightly. He’ll go straight to the 2000 Guineas and we’ll see how he develops over the winter. The Guineas is the first part, and the second part will obviously be the issue. The Derby is a very important race for all concerned, and we’ll have to look at him in the spring. Henry will be the best judge of that, and he’s likely to have an extensive programme as a three-year-old.” Frankel is a general even-money favourite with British bookmakers for the 2000 Guineas, and trades as the 3-1 favorite for the Epsom Derby.

Aidan O’Brien, trainer of the runner-up, reflected, “He set a nice sensible gallop, and he’s very straightforward. Everything’s open to him.” A disappointed David Simcock said of the previously unbeaten Dream Ahead, “It might have just come too quick for him, he just never picked up.”

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

FRANKEL : AWAITING THE BLOCKBUSTER

Henry Cecil and Frankel
(Photos : Guardian / Racing Diary)

DEWHURST STAKES (Gr1)

In the era of the ground-breaking Zenyatta, Sea the Stars and Goldikova, movie scripts to follow Seabiscuit and Secretariat are easy pickings at present.

There was the glimpse of another potentially notable racing story in the process of unveiling itself in the ethereal majesty of England’s Newmarket gallops last Friday morning. It revolves around a colt named after one of America’s great trainers who is looked after by one of Britain’s finest in Henry Cecil. Whether Khalid Abdullah’s Frankel (GB) (Galileo) will prove box-office hit or false dawn is the question of the moment, and the clock is ticking down to his first major test Saturday in the Dewhurst Stakes (Gr1) at Newmarket. That is when he will have to confirm the abundant promise of his three starts so far, with the first taken in a virtual canter and the next two - including Ascot’s Royal Lodge Stakes (Gr2) - won by an aggregate of 23 lengths.

Cecil is in his veteran stage now, although that is a tag that does not sit well with a character whose natural bonhomie, energy and humor have been his trademark down the years. Still in full working order is his yearning for the big stage, if not for him then for his horses. Standing out against the mirk on Warren Hill in black attire, the publicity-shy, but style-conscious maestro of the stables that adorn the top of these famous slopes was not playing to the cameras.

You never get used to the publicity,” Cecil said in the frank and self-effacing manner which may be what keeps the public, and particularly Newmarket’s racegoing faithful, firmly on his side.

Every time Warren Place outperforms the opposition in the great races, the reception reserved for him remains undiminished, and will be in evidence again if his new star in the ascendant can keep the dream alive on Saturday. Such generosity of public affection, which he has always commanded, seems to have intensified of late in recognition of the downturns of his life story.

With serious illness an unwelcome caller at Cecil’s door in recent times, his connection with Juddmonte’s eponymous tribute to the much-missed Bobby Frankel seems appropriate. At 67, Cecil certainly seems to be reinvigorated by the presence of his latest flame, who swings along confidently near the front of the string on the way to his effortless canter.

While the Dewhurst will perform its usual task of unlocking the secrets of the following year’s G1 2000 Guineas, there is already the spectre of Epsom’s blue riband hanging over all talk concerning Frankel.

It took a talent of the magnitude of Sea the Stars to end the 20 year wait for a colt to complete the famed Guineas-Derby double last year, but Cecil is keeping both feet on the ground on this matter.

DUBAI DEWHURST STAKES (GROUP 1)
NEWMARKET 7F 16 OCTOBER 2010
RACE CARD

#	Horse	Draw	OR	Jockey	Trainer
1	DREAM AHEAD	2	128	W Buick	David Simcock
2	FRANKEL	4	123	T Queally	Henry Cecil
3	GLOR NA MARA	5	-	K Manning	Jim Bolger
4	RODERIC O’CONNOR	6	-	J Murtagh	Aidan O’Brien
5	SAAMIDD	3	115	F Dettori	Saeed bin Suroor
6	WAITER’S DREAM	1	109	K Fallon	Brian Meehan

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News