• Champions Day

Frankel a champion like no other

Frankel's win allowed Sir Henry Cecil and Tom Queally to take centre stage © PA Photos

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Simply the best I have ever seen. And it's quite possible Frankel is the best anyone has ever seen.

Win No. 14, a Champion Stakes on Champions Day, came in front of a capacity 32,000 crowd. And it was fitting that the Ascot stands were full to bursting to witness what was the final time Frankel sets foot on a racecourse.

In the immediate aftermath of the win, a time when elation could have persuaded others to go again next year, Frankel's owner Prince Khalid Abdullah confirmed it would be the four-year-old's swansong.

"That is the end of it and he will retire to stud now," the Prince said. "Today was important because it was his last race."

The authorities want to open up racing to the masses. There have been gimmicks aplenty in recent years. They do not need gimmicks. They need Frankels. But this was the final curtain call and it could be a long, long time before a thoroughbred of such stature is seen on a racecourse again.

Flat racing's greats come and go all too quick, think Sea The Stars, with owners understandably keen to cash in on stud value. It matters little that Abdullah is a billionaire, the reality is that Frankel is worth too much as a stallion to race him again next year. And there is also the prospect of the Prince sending some of his best mares to be covered by Frankel - which will allow him to dream about another Frankel. But there may not be another Frankel in Abdullah's lifetime. He is 74. There may not be another Frankel in my lifetime and I've got a good few years on him.

It was an emotion-filled day, with Frankel's trainer Sir Henry Cecil - who is battling cancer - receiving a warm ovation before the race and a resounding one after it.

Cecil has spoken about how Frankel has helped him through his illness and he was glowing in his praise of the son of Galileo.

"He didn't like the crowd much, but he was very relaxed," Cecil said. "He's the best I've ever had. He's the best I've ever seen. I'd be surprised if there's ever been any better.

"I have enjoyed every moment of training him, although it has been slightly stressful at times."

14 wins out of 14, 10 of which are Group Ones, cumulative winning margin 76 1/4 lengths; beat 23 separate Group One winners who had won 52 Group Ones between them. It is hard to argue with the numbers. And it is even harder to crab the manner in which he has won his races. This was probably the least visually impressive win of the lot, but Frankel still made the top class Cirrus Des Aigles look pedestrian when swamping him for speed at the furlong pole.

Nathaniel, a multiple Group One winner himself, was a further two-and-a-half lengths adrift in third and he was made to look like a one-paced plodder as Frankel cruised past him at the top of the straight. And all this happened despite Frankel in all likelihood hating the soft ground.

"He's wonderful," Teddy Grimthorpe, the owner's racing manager, said. "He probably wasn't enjoying the ground as he normally does, but he's produced it.

"He had a trouble-free passage, then it always looked like he was going to win. He had it under control in the straight. The crowd's reaction is great - the greatest for the greatest. He's the ultimate equine athlete. We've never seen anything like him. He has given us three sensational years."

The attention will now shift to the stars of National Hunt, the hardy souls who come back year after year, and the likes of Big Buck's and Long Run will look to wow like Frankel has. But next year Flat racing will have much work to do to find a superstar the equal of Frankel.

Simply the best.

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