Frankel on course for QIPCO British Champions Day

Frankel and Tom Queally take the plaudits after their St James’s Palace Stakes triumph.  Image courtesy of racingfotos.com

Frankel may step up in trip to 10 furlongs on the inaugural Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot on 15 October after connections described a crack at York’s Juddmonte International on 17 August  as "probably unlikely".

Sir Henry Cecil’s brilliant three-year-old, who is unbeaten in his seven career starts to date, is gearing up for a mouthwatering clash with Canford Cliffs, generally regarded as the best older miler in training, in the QIPCO Sussex Stakes on Wednesday 27 July at the upcoming Glorious Goodwood meeting.

While Frankel’s owner Khalid Abdulla would dearly love to win the York race he sponsors through his Juddmonte breeding operation, his racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe believes Ascot could provide a better option to whether the colt stays at a mile or moves up in distance.

"He worked really well on Wednesday and looks in really good form," said Grimthorpe on At The Races.

"I wouldn’t have thought he’d go to the Breeders’ Cup. I would think he’ll probably end up at Ascot on Champions Day in either the mile (QEII) or the mile-and-a-quarter (QIPCO Champion Stakes) race.

"Whether he’d go to the Juddmonte after the Sussex would be debatable just three weeks after, as much as we’d all love that, so it would would be up to Henry how he reached either the QEII or the Champion Stakes.

"There is a chance (he could run in the Juddmonte) but it’s probably unlikely. We could be looking to go that way but whether the Juddmonte will come too soon, we’ll have to judge."

To book tickets for QIPCO British Champions Day, which is likely to sell out in advance, CLICK HERE.