Juddmonte Farms’ champion FRANKEL (Galileo [Ire]) was reported to have come
out of his re-introduction in Saturday’s Greenham S. (Eng-G3) without any problems.
Impressive when a four-length winner of Newbury’s seven-furlong prep, the
unbeaten star will head to the English Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) at Newmarket
on April 30 as a likely long odds-on favorite.
“I’ve spoken to (trainer) Henry (Cecil) this
morning, and he’s come out of the race really well,” the owner-breeder’s Racing
Manager Teddy Grimthorpe said Sunday. “The race went pretty much according to
plan — he showed himself back in top form.
“He’s a very imposing horse. He
certainly wants to go a good pace, and he just has that tremendous stride which
helps him dominate his races. He certainly needed it (Saturday), and I’m sure,
mentally and physically, he’ll improve from that. We’d hope he’d come on a good
deal, as he’s still a bit heavy.
“I would hope we’ll see a better Frankel in the
Guineas — Henry said he’d left a bit to work on. We’ll see how the Guineas looks
like shaping up, and discuss with Henry what might be the best plan regarding a
pacemaker — all these things are up for discussion. We want a genuine,
straightforward pace and for it not to turn into a farce.”
Regarding the June 4 Epsom
Derby (Eng-G1), connections are keeping their counsel at present with another
factor being the highly impressive debut win of WORLD DOMINATION (orld Domination
(Empire Maker) in an 11-furlong maiden on the same card.
“Most decisions will
revolve around Frankel,” Lord Grimthorpe added. “We have to be a little bit
careful regarding the Derby, because if we hope Frankel can be an extraordinary
horse, then maybe he’s capable of things we think he ought not to be. He’s got
to prove himself yet, but I wouldn’t want to be too dogmatic at the moment at
this stage.
“World Domination had a very pleasing debut for a horse who hasn’t
done much, but getting carried away at this stage is a bit premature. He’s got
the credentials on breeding and is a nice-looking horse, and he’d need a race or
two including a Derby trial. I’m biased, as I love the (May 12) Dante S. ([Eng-G2] at York), which is proven as the best Derby trial. It seems to be the race which
brings out the horses, and they seem to be able to go on from it. It’s a
question of timing and suitability and seeing how the horse goes, but we haven’t
got that far yet. Ultimately, the Dante would be in the mix for him.”