Frankel wins at Royal Ascot, extending unbeaten run to 11
Frankel extended his unbeaten run to 11 this afternoon, taking the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
The Sir Henry Cecil-trained four-year-old won the 1m Group One by an impressive 11 lengthsin the opening race of the Royal meeting (Tuesday 19 June).
The son of Galileo, who is officially rated the best racehorse in the world, was sent off at 1-10 favourite.
He settled behind stablemate and pacemaker Bullet Train before taking the lead three furlongs from home.
Jockey Tom Queally described Frankel’s performance as “amazing”.
“It looks like he’s improving. He settled, he travelled.
“That’s his best performance. He ticked all the boxes, he did everything right. From my point of view he’s been flawless in the past but I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
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“He looks like he’s getting better, I didn’t think it was possible but he is. He got a good lead off Bullet Train. Frankel is very professional – I couldn’t fault him.
“He’s an amazing horse – he has so much ability. He just wants to run straight and grab the bit. The biggest problem I had was pulling him up.”
Runner up was old rival Excelebration, trained by Aidan O’Brien, who has now finished second to Frankel four times. Andrew Balding’s Side Glance was third.
Sir Henry Cecil added: “It’s relief, I’m not surprised but relieved.
“He did exactly what I thought but he’s still improving, Tom said he’s still improving. He looks as if he’ll stay a mile and a quarter so we’ll leave our options open”
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.