Juddmonte Farms' Frankel remained undefeated and the hot favorite for the group I 2000 Guineas and English Derby with a sparkling four-length victory in the seven-furlong Totesport.com Greenham Stakes (Eng-III) at Newbury April 16.
Sent off as the 1-4 favorite, Frankel burst clear in the final furlong under Tom Queally to score his fifth emphatic victory in as many starts for trainer Henry Cecil.
Bottled up in traffic briefly at the start, Frankel charged through a seam to take up a striking position just to the outside of stablemate Picture Editor, while racing without cover the entire way.
Excelebration put up a brief struggle with two furlongs to go, but Frankel was too strong and began to draw away, while only being shown the whip once or twice and winning under a hand ride.
“He relaxed fine, dropped the bit, and when I gave him a bit of rein he did it well,” Queally was quoted in the Sporting Life. “It's his first run and he's entitled to improve a great deal from that, and if he does he will go to the
Cecil added "This will have taught him something and I said beforehand whatever he did today, he'd come on for it. He's had a good blow and hopefully that will put him spot-on for the
"It was quite nerve wracking as we haven't been able to do any work on the grass at all. It was a trial and the lead horse couldn't go fast enough for him but once he settled, he quickened up well.He goes on softer ground but he's better when it's faster. I'm happy with that. It's very exciting."
Frankel, a son of Galileo, out of the Danehill mare Kind, was named for the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel, who trained for Juddmonte for many years.