Frankel

Frankel (GB) has recaptured the crown he first wore in 2021 and is the champion sire in Britain and Ireland for 2023, as well as being the leading sire in Europe, for the second time. It won't be the last. Whether or not he will be able to emulate the long reigns of his sire Galileo (Ire) and grandsire Sadler's Wells remains to be seen, but it would be unwise to bet against it. Yes, Frankel's launch into his stud career was the stallion equivalent of being born with a...

Haras de Saint Pair's homebred Group 1 winner Pearls Galore (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) has been given a wild-card entry to the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale. She will be offered carrying her first foal by Frankel (GB) as Lot 210 on Saturday, December 9. Trained by Paddy Twomey, Pearls Galore bowed out at the top of her game last season after winning the G1 Matron S. at Leopardstown during Irish Champions Weekend. In total, she won seven of her 17 starts, including the G2 Lanwades Stud S. and two Group...

In the pantheon of the promotional stakes, the Sir Alex Ferguson-owned Spirit Dancer (GB) (Frankel {GB}) winning the $1 million G2 Bahrain International Trophy would have ranked pretty highly as a dream result for everyone associated with this relatively new race.  To have one of the most recognisable sporting figures in the world in attendance all week was something, but for Spirit Dancer to play with his rivals in a similar fashion to some of the best teams Ferguson assembled at the helm of Manchester United exceeded all expectations.  You...

Charlie Appleby says Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) will line out in Friday's $1m Bahrain International Trophy with a favourite's chance but admitted that stall 12 could make things tricky for the dual Group 1 winner as Godolphin ready a five-strong team for the Group 2 contest. Last seen winning the G1 Canadian International in October, Nations Pride will be joined by stablemate Highland Avenue (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), with William Buick opting to ride the former in his bid to win the race for a first time. Appleby said, "Nations...

Our man in Ireland, Brian Sheerin, timed his run to the altar to perfection, leaving his colleagues to sort through and try not to miss any of the plentiful stallion fee announcements over the last week or so. He's now back from his Tuscan honeymoon and has been banned from getting married again. In case any of you were similarly distracted by nuptials, holidays, or binge-watching The Dry, here's a handy TDN overview as to who's up, who's down, and who's new on the stallion scene. (And a tip to...

Frankel (GB), who is set to become champion sire for the second time at the end of this year, has had his fee increased to a career high of £350,000 for 2024. Along with Dubawi (Ire), this makes him the joint-highest-priced stallion in Europe. Juddmonte has released the fees for its five European stallions, with Kingman (GB) remaining unchanged at £125,000 after a year in which his leading runners have included the top sprinter Kinross (GB) along with French Group 1 winners Sauterne (Fr) and Feed The Flame (GB). Kingman...

G1 Queen Anne S. winner Triple Time (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) is to join the Darley roster at Dalham Hall Stud from 2024. Trained by Kevin Ryan, the four-year-old won four of his eight starts, including striking twice at two when he broke his maiden by nine and a half lengths and went on to win the Listed Ascendant S. at Haydock.  Missing out on the following year's Classics with a setback, Triple Time returned in September to land the G3 Superior Mile, and posted his best performance this year, again...

Frankel (GB) is being joined on the Juddmonte roster at Banstead Manor Stud by his Classic-winning son Chaldean (GB) for the 2024 season. Bred by Whitsbury Manor Stud, Chaldean was a 550,000gns foal purchase by Juddmonte and one of five black-type horses out of the Dutch Art (GB) mare Suelita (GB). The winner of four of his five starts at two, the Andrew Balding-trained colt landed the G3 Acomb S. and G2 Champagne S. before emulating his sire by signing off last year with victory in the G1 Dewhurst S. His...

We can believe what our eyes are telling us. That was the verdict from Timeform on Monday, with the ratings gurus placing City Of Troy a joint second in terms of winning performances posted in the Dewhurst this century.  The one horse rated higher than Aidan O'Brien's bright young star? You guessed it, the mighty Frankel, who those closest to City Of Troy drew parallels with after that stunning victory at Newmarket on Saturday.  "He really is our Frankel," said Michael Tabor, one of the part-owners in City Of Troy...

NEWMARKET, UK--Friday's biblical rains had cleared by the early hours of Saturday to ensure City Of Troy's coronation was brightly lit against the big East Anglian sky. And make no mistake, however good Vandeek had been across most of the same turf just a fortnight earlier, this was the two-year-old performance of the year. Across the Devil's Dyke, City Of Troy had already stormed the July Course to take the Superlative S. in imperious fashion, with braking the only problem for Ryan Moore as he attempted to pull up the...

Lodge Park Stud produced one of the most unlikely of turnarounds to top Monday's Book 2 session at Tattersalls with their Dubawi (Ire) filly selling to Godolphin for 725,000gns.  Not because the price wasn't expected as the quality of their offering was never in doubt. But when the filly gave herself a nasty cut en route to Book 1 and was forced to miss that engagement, plans B, C and D whirled through the head of her breeder Damien Burns. To the delight of Burns, his Dubawi filly out of...

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...