Frankel a true champion

Perhaps one of Frankel’s greatest achievements is his ability to dispel the notion that there is no such thing as a certainty in horseracing.

At Ascot on Saturday, that sense of glorious inevitability was thick in the air before, and after, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. The enormous Qipco British Champions Day crowd - which numbered in excess of 26,000 - jostled for positions even as the horse officially rated the best in the world entered the paddock, and his welcome back after dismissing the Group One-winning Excelebration for the third occasion, this time by four lengths, was something to behold.

Sir Henry Cecil’s colt bore the Qipco logo on his gleaming coat and although he did not quite produce the fireworks of the 2000 Guineas or Sussex Stakes, there was a quiet assurance about the ninth consecutive victory of his career.

Jockey Tom Queally’s confidence never wavered as his mount’s three-parts brother Bullet Train fired off in front, sitting motionless and almost alone down the centre of the track. It soon appeared a formality that those who took the odds of 4-11 would be collecting as this equine treasure strode to the front with a furlong to run, and the applause from his adoring public commenced.

“He did everything that we asked, we weren’t trying to catch pigeons or anything, we just wanted to win nicely,” said Cecil. “He’s a terrific horse. He’s done everything we asked of him, and next year he will easily get a mile and a quarter. I was nervous because everything has to go right, but he has really grown up and settles very well. He did it really well. It’s been a long year and I’m looking forward to getting a winter over him. He’s a champion, he’s out of the ordinary and hopefully he will continue to prove himself next year.”

Cecil later scotched any lingering thoughts of one more outing in the Breeders’ Cup, adding: “He won’t run again, he’ll be put away for the winter.”

Cirrus Des Aigles was a brave winner of the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot, but the victory was soured when jockey Christophe Soumillon received a five-day ban - and forfeited his percentage of prize-money of £52,000 - for using his whip six times inside the final furlong.

Soumillon’s suspension sadly took away some of the gloss from a tremendous training performance by Corine Barande-Barbe. She said: “To win a Group 1 against the best horses in England is fantastic. Hurt by the punishment, the Belgian has urged British jockeys to take strike action after he was stripped of his winning prize-money. He said: “If I was a British jockey I would be on the side of Richard Hughes, and probably go a day without riding any races. I would be on the side for all the jockeys.”

Representatives of the Professional Jockeys Association and the BHA are due to meet in London today to discuss the fall-out from the controversial new whip regulations, with strike action from riders still considered a possibility.