FRANKEL HANGS ON TO WIN ST JAMES'S PALACE STAKES

Click above to watch Frankel winning the St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr1)
(Image : Guardian - Footage : Racing UK)

ST. JAMES’S PALACE STAKES (Group 1)
Royal Ascot, 1600m
14 June 2011

Peerless in the 2000 Guineas, Frankel (GB) (Galileo) offered slightly more hope to his rivals in yesterday’s G1 St James’s Palace Stakes, but was still in command where it mattered to complete the notable double under jockey Tom Queally.

At 3-10, Khalid Abdullah’s unbeaten colt was sent off the shortest-priced favorite since Tudor Minstrel (GB) in 1947 and, after being settled in initially, was asked to lengthen passing halfway. Taking over from his pacemaker Rerouted (Stormy Atlantic) on the turn, he was once again left to chart his own passage up the straight as Zoffany (Ire) (Dansili) closed the margin down to 3/4 of a length.

Frankel’s win was a first in this race for his owner-breeder and a fourth for his trainer Sir Henry Cecil, who now has 73 Royal Ascot triumphs to his name. “Tom said he was very idle in the end, which is good as we can ride a race on him now,” the recently knighted patron of Warren Place said. “Now he’s getting wiser, he thought he’d done enough like he did in the Guineas. Tom said he wasn’t at all tired.”

Already exciting before he came here for the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes in September, Frankel ignited the blue touchpaper in that track-and trip contest when delivering a stellar performance to win by 10 lengths. His mid-race move on the turn set him apart and, after come-from-behind wins in Newmarket’s G1 Dewhurst Stakes in October and Newbury’s G3 Greenham Stakes on his return April 16, waiting tactics were dispensed with a fortnight later.

His monstrous effort in the Newmarket Classic led to an exchange of opinions as to the long-term effect of such forcing tactics, and Cecil was keen to take a step back with the hot-blooded star of the Juddmonte operation. Whereas Rerouted was not quick enough to lead him in the Guineas, this time Michael Hills was away and gone on the pacemaker as Tom Queally restrained Frankel in fourth tracking the peloton’s leader Grand Prix Boss (Jpn) (Sakura Bakushin O). Pushed past that runner with five furlongs still remaining, Frankel immediately began opening up as his rivals punched the panic button in behind. Within a furlong and a half he was in front and, although the final eighth seemed agonisingly long as Zoffany closed in under Ryan Moore, he had already inflicted the damage.

“He jumped a little bit slow and settled better than ever, so I was in a tricky position as no one was inclined to follow Michael Hills,” Queally said. “I thought I’d draw sooner rather than later, and he was running for a long way and was getting fed up in front, as he does it so easy. He’s growing up all the time and he’s more versatile than people think - he doesn’t have to jump and run, and we’ve got options regarding tactics. He’s still the one to beat at the moment.”

For Cecil, the relaxed nature his star colt exuded yesterday means that he can ponder alternative targets now. “He settled very well today and the pacemaker went off quite fast, so Tom had to ask him to take it up,” Cecil commented. “The plan was to do what he did in the Royal Lodge again and go just before the bend. He sprinted away, and the further he went, the better. Now I don’t have to make as much use of him, and as he settles, he could go a mile and a quarter for the G1 Juddmonte International at York August 17, or stay at a mile for the G1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood July 27, but we’ll see. It’s too soon after the race.”

Juddmonte homebred Frankel represents the highly successful cross of Galileo (Ire) over Danehill mares; this year alone, other runners bred on that pattern include Classic winners Golden Lilac (Ire) and Roderic O’Connor (Ire). The unbeaten colt is out of the successful sprinter Kind, whose half-brother Powerscourt (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) was at his best over 10 furlongs and beyond. Kind’s first foal was last year’s G3 Lingfield Derby Trial winner Bullet Train (GB) (Sadler’s Wells). Her 2-year-old Galileo colt, named Noble Mission (GB), is in training with Henry Cecil. The mare has a yearling colt by Oasis Dream (GB) and, after producing a filly by that Banstead Manor stallion in April, was bred back to Galileo May 15 and is believed to be in foal.

ST. JAMES’S PALACE STAKES (Gr1)
Final Result

#	Horse	Sire	Jockey	Trainer
1	FRANKEL (GB)	Galileo	Tom Queally	Sir Henry Cecil
2	ZOFFANY (IRE)	Dansili	Ryan Moore	Aidan O’Brien
3	EXCELEBRATION (IRE)	Exceed and Excel	Adam Kirby	Marco Botti
4	NEEBRAS (IRE)	Oasis Dream	Frankie Dettori	David Lanigan
5	DREAM AHEAD (USA)	Diktat	William Buick	David Simcock
6	DUBAWI GOLD (GB)	Dubawi	Richard Hughes	Richard Hannon
7	WOOTTON BASSETT (GB)	Iffraaj	Paul Hanagan	Richard Fahey
8	GRAND PRIX BOSS (JPN)	Sakura Bakushin O	Mirco Demuro	Yoshito Yahagi
9	REROUTED (USA)	Stormy Atlantic	Michael Hills	Barry Hills

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

ROYAL ASCOT 2010

The Royal Procession at Royal Ascot
(Photo : The Mirror) 

ROYAL ASCOT
15 JUNE 2010 - 19 JUNE 2010

Racing’s greatest festival is Royal Ascot. The Melbourne Cup may stop a nation for a day, but the Royal Meeting stops the world for a week. That’s the truth about this phenomenal celebration of pomp, ceremony and the classiest exhibition of Thoroughbred endeavour, anywhere.

Fans of our sport are indebted to Queen Anne who transformed the naked heathland at Windsor Castle into the arena for England’s most famous sporting tradition in 1711. Since then more money, more pride, more pedigree and more champagne has been splurged on the outcome of the events of these four days than on any other sporting action anywhere.

It takes a special kind of animal to make the “cut” for Royal Ascot, let alone win there, and many of those that have distinguished themselves have long since graduated into racing and breeding’s Hall of Fame. The breed-shapers, from Hyperion to Ribot, Sadler’s Wells to Danehill, they all passed Ascot’s way, and who knows what this year’s events, commencing today, might hold?

THE FIRST DAY’S SPORT

Highlights of the first day always include the mid-summer “European Guineas”, the St James’s Palace Stakes (Gr1), which brings together the English Guineas winner, Makfi, the hero of the Irish version, Canford Cliffs, and the French horse Siyouni. Then there is the internationally contested (especially by a flotilla of Aussies), King’s Stand Stakes (Gr1) over five furlongs, which brings together some of the swiftest horses in the world, (JJ The Jet Plane excluded this year,) Borderlescott, Equiano and Kingsgate Native for the home contingent, while the David Hayes-trained Nicconi and Hussonet’s Grade One winning son, Gold Trail do duty for Australia. 

Somehow, the respective 2010 Guineas winners in England, Ireland and France do not possess the same allure as you might expect of these races, so the St James’s Palace has an especially open look to it for this renewal. You can’t say that though, for the Kings Stand where the Europeans field the usual suspects (some of them looking decidedly long in the tooth these days), but the Australians have once again mounted a serious offensive. Their record in this race over the past couple of years suggests that this could be Australia’s day, which will help our friends from down under to get over the pasting they took at the hands of Germany on Sunday evening in Durban.

The Queen Anne Stakes (Gr1) traditionally brings together the best older milers, and in some respects, it could be dubbed the world championship of milers, so good have its outcomes been in the past. At least this one has lived up to its billing, as it matches last year’s three year old champion miler, Rip Van Winkle, the explosively in-form Paco Boy and the eight time Grade One winning filly, Goldikova. If you miss the other two, make sure you’re in front of your telly when this one comes up.

LE COUP D’OR : 
NO YEATS THIS YEAR, BUT THERE’S STILL ANGUS GOLD OUT THERE

The most famous race, and the headliner at this celebrated meeting, is the Gold Cup, a marathon contest over 2,5miles. For the past four seasons, Summerhill resident sire, Solskjaer’s half-brother, Yeats has dominated the event, and has the distinction of being the only horse in the 200 year history of the race to have won it on four consecutive occasions. He won’t be there for the race this year, and it looks like a sub-par gathering of stayers. Nonetheless, we have gold in a different form in the shape of Sheikh Hamdan’s worldwide racing manager, Angus Gold.

One of our favourite parables flowing from Ascot is now two years old, when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II invited Angus to join the Royal Parade. We all know the Queen’s golden coach, and anyone who’s watched Tellytrack in recent years, will know what the Royal procession looks like. Having passed the grandstand the coach proceeds up the shute to the paddock. Once there, the Royal party alights, and proceeds to the Royal Box. On this occasion, as the party departed the paddock, one Aussie wag at the rail enquired: “Hey mate, who’s that bird with Angus Gold?” He obviously wasn’t a Royalist.

MICK KINANE ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

Mick Kinane and Sea The Stars at Juddmonte International
(Photo : Getty Images)

WE WILL “SEA” YOU LATER

Thoroughbred Daily News reports:

Mick Kinane has called time on his career following a season to remember partnering Sea the Stars (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}). In a statement to the Press Association, the 50-year-old revealed the decision. “I have decided this is the right time to retire from race-riding. At 50 I still feel fit and sharp enough to do any horse justice but, after the season I have just had in partnership with Sea the Stars, I have the privilege of being able to end my career as a jockey on an incredible high and that’s what I want to do. I leave with a huge sense of gratitude to all the great horses I have ridden, all the great trainers whose genius developed those champions and everybody else in racing, from the stable lads to the owners, who have made me deeply thankful for my involvement in the game. Teamwork is the key to success in racing and I have been blessed with some of the best alliances a jockey could have. The most important support of all throughout my career has, naturally, come from my wife, Catherine, along with my family and friends. Both Catherine and our two precious daughters, Sinead and Aisling, know how much they mean to me.” Kinane retires as the winner of four renewals of the 2000 Guineas, three Derbys, two Oaks, a St Leger, five King Georges and six St James’s Palace Stakes. and a total of 14 Irish Classics and seven Irish Champion Stakes. He also garnered three editions of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, a Melbourne Cup, a Belmont Stakes and three Breeders’ Cup wins.

We were lucky enough to see Mick Kinane in action here in South Africa at Turffontein at the International Jockey’s challenge last month. He is a legendary rider & consummate professional & we wish him all the best in his retirement.