Frankel Still Possible for Breeders' Cup

Updated: Saturday, October 15, 2011 2:01 PM
Posted: Thursday, October 13, 2011 2:00 PM

Frankel, the unbeaten 3-year-old colt in England, will try to win his ninth straight race Oct. 16 in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (Eng-I) at the inaugural British Champions Day at Ascot.

Though it has been widely assumed that this would be his last race of the season, on Oct. 13 Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for owner Khalid Abdullah, said there is a possibility Frankel could race in the Breeders’ Cup next month.

“It would be a wonderful thing to take a horse like Frankel to race in America. I'm sure the American racing public would just love it,'' Grimthorpe said in an Associated Press story Oct. 13. “The interest in the States has been phenomenal, which is wonderful. In a perfect world, he would race there.”

Previously, trainer Henry Cecil had been quoted as saying the Queen Elizabeth II would be the Galileo colt’s final race of 2011.

Frankel, who has earned more than $1.3 million in his career, would be pointed toward the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (gr. IT) Nov. 5 if he did come to Churchill Downs. He has yet to race outside of England.

Frankel is currently the 1-3 favorite for the QEII Stakes, where he will take on seven challengers including filly Immortal Verse, who in her most recent start defeated Goldikova in the Prix Haras de Fresnay-Le-Buffard Jacques Le Marois (Fr-I).

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