Juddmonte Farm’s champion sire Frankel has already sired a Classic winner for 2021 with Hungry Heart winning the Group I ATC Australian Oaks and he might have a second in the pipeline after undefeated colt Hurricane Lane captured the Group II Dante Stakes (1m 2 ½ f) at York overnight for Godolphin.
Trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, Hurricane Lane won his only start last season over a mile at Newmarket and won again at Newbury when making his seasonal return last month.
Stepped up in distance and class for this assignment, Hurricane Lane as strong to the line winning by three-quarters of a length over Kingman colt Megallana with the favourite High Definition (Galileo) in third place.
“He's got a great temperament for a big horse and is a good mover,” said Charlie Appleby.
“It was lovely ground and he's jumped and travelled well and stayed well, so he ticks a lot of the boxes. I've been on the phone to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and he was pleased, so as long as the horse comes out of it fit and well, the Derby is the obvious place to go.”
A 200,000 guinea purchase for Godolphin from the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Hurricane Lane was bred by Normandie Stud and is a full brother to stakes-placed Frankel’s Storm being from stakes-winning stayer Gale Force, a half-sister to Champion Older Female Stayer and Group I winner Seal of Approval.
Hurricane Lane is the 67th stakes-winner worldwide for Frankel, who has built some impressive statistics from his stud career to date.
Of his 67 stakes-winners, 13 of them are Group I winners and his stakes-winner to runner strike rate is nearly 15%.... compare that to any of our leading sires and you will see why Frankel has been a popular choice for Australian breeders looking to have mares covered in the UK to Southern Hemisphere time.
There were five Frankel foals born in Australia last year, 19 the year before and 16 and 14 in the years before that.
Frankel stands at a fee of 175,000 pounds ($A318,216) this year.
