Frankel, Britain’s most famous racehorse, won the Group One JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury today in scintillating style to remain unbeaten in all his 10 starts.
The Sir Henry Cecil-trained four-year-old saw off his old rival Excelebration comfortably, winning by five lengths with a further four lengths back to Dubawi Gold.
Jockey Tom Queally tracked Bullet Train, Frankel’s pacemaker and three-parts brother, until over a furlong out. Frankel responded immediately when Queally pressed him and stretched away impressively.
It was his first start in 2012 after a three-year-old campaign that included a brilliant 2000 Guineas victory and further Group One triumphs in the St James’s Palace Stakes, the Sussex Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
The son of Galileo, bred by his owner Khalid Abdulla, will have his next outing at Royal Ascot, where he has the choice of staying at a mile in the Queen Anne Stakes or stepping up to a mile and a quarter for the first time in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
Queally said: “It’s a great relief he’s come back – I know he had a little scare a while back. It’s great for everyone he belongs to racing.
“He showed that burst of acceleration and he’s not like anything I’ve sat on. He’s grown up, he’s thicker set – look at him now, he’s the real deal.”
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