Juddmonte Farms champion sire Frankel went into Royal Ascot on 28 Group I winners and has moved to 31 after the first three days of the world renowned meeting, but his G1 charge has now come to an end as the champion son of Galileo does not have a runner in the remaining three G1 races, so let’s have a quick recap of these new elite level winners.
Day 1 - The Group I Queen Anne Stakes (1m) looked an open race with many chances on paper and it produced an upset with 33-1 shot Triple Time outgunning quality mare Inspiral to give Frankel a G1 quinella.
Inspiral won the Group I Coronation Stakes at this meeting last year and was having her first run this year with Frankie Dettori in the saddle. She loomed up to win, but couldn’t get past lightly raced four year-old stallion Triple Time.
Triple Time is the second Group I winner from blue hen Reem Three, a stakes-placed Mark of Esteem mare that has had nine foals to race and all are winners. Triple Time is a sibling to Group I winner Ajman Princess, Group III winners Ostilio and Cape Byron and stakes-winners Third Realm and Captain Winters.
Triple Time is the 29th Group I winner for champion sire Frankel.
Day 2 - The Group I Prince of Wales’s Stakes (1m2f) produced another upset and a new Group I winner for Frankel with the Shadwell homebred five year-old stallion Mostahdaf scoring a dominant four length win over race favourite Luxembourg with Frankel’s 2021 Epsom Derby winner Adayar in third place.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden and ridden by Jim Crowley, Mostahdaf had two runs in Meydan earlier this year including a fourth to Equinox in the G1 Sheema Classic and was having his first start since then.
The 30th G1 winner for Frankel, Mostahdaf is a half-brother to dual Group I winner Nazeef from stakes-winning Dubawi mare Handassa, a half-sister to Group winners Desert Stone and Euginio.
The Frankel x Dubawi nick is building some impressive stats with 27 winners from 32 runners (84.4% winner to runner) and eight stakes-winners, four of them Group I winners with 25% SW to runner!!
Day 3 - The Group I Ascot Gold Cup (2m4f) is the ultimate long distance staying contest with race favourite Coltrane going down by three-quarters of a length to lightly raced Frankel gelding Courage Mon Ami with Frankie Dettori on board.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Courage Mon Ami won his only two starts last year and then won at Goodwood when returning in a handicap race last month so made it four wins in as many starts when landing his first stakes race to become the 31st Group I winner for Frankel.
Bred by Hascombe and Valiant Stud, Courage Mon Ami was bought privately for Wathnan Racing and is a three-quarter brother to stakes-winners Astronomos and Crimson Rosette being the third stakes-winner from winning Lemon Drop Kid mare Crimson Ribbon, a sibling to Group winners Bronze Cannon, Across the Stars and Valiant Girl.
Let’s take a look at the overall sire stats for Frankel – 70% winners to runners and 17% SW to runner with 122 stakes-winners in total! His 31 G1 winners have come from 720 runners, so he gets a G1 winner in about every 23 runners.
Frankel stands at Juddmonte Farms at a fee of £275,000.
