As everyone reading this probably knows here at Equestrian Escapes we just love horses, so we felt it only fitting that we paid our own special homage to champion race horse Frankel, the equine world’s equivalent of Usain Bolt!
Frankel, who is a British thoroughbred, was foaled at 20 minutes before midnight on 11 February 2008 at Banstead Manor Stud just outside Newmarket. On first impressions the stud manager, Simon Mockridge, recorded him as being a quality colt, tall with size and scope (little did he know just how much scope he possessed). He was on his feet and suckling from his Dam, Kind, within an hour, she herself was a champion sprinter with five race wins under her belt. The sire, Galileo, ran eight times between October 2000 and October 2001 notching up 6 wins notably including the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby Stakes, and the King George VI and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes
As a two year old Frankel’s owner Prince Khalid Abdulla sent him to the training yard of Sir Henry Cecil where he soon acquired the nickname of Usain Colt from the stable hands. He stands 16.1 hands high and weighs in the region of half a ton. He is bay in colour and has four white socks and a white star on his head, but probably his most impressive statistic is that he gallops at an average top speed of 43 mph! So Usain Colt runs approximately twice as fast as Usain Bolt! His career earnings to date are around £2.99 million but this is soon to be eclipsed as he begins his new career at stud.
His auspicious race career (14 wins out of 14 races!) included a stunning performance in the 2000 Guineas now described in racing circles as ‘one of the greatest displays on a British racecourse’. After his win in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in October 2011, Frankel was given a rating of 143 by Timeform, the highest mark awarded by the organisation in over forty years and their fourth highest of all time behind Sea Bird, Brigadier Gerard and Minstrel. In June 2012, following his win in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, Timeform raised his provisional rating to 147, making him the highest-rated horse in the organisation's history.
His value is now ‘conservatively’ estimated at £100 million and it is with bated breath that we await the arrival of his first progeny in 2014!