British Champions Day Results: Frankel Steamrolls Rivals... Again (w/Replay)
by Matt Gardner on Oct 15, 2011 8:34 AM EDT
in International Racing
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Below are results from British Champions Day at Ascot, with links to the full chart at the Racing Post (when available).
UPDATE: While there were impressive performances in all of the Champions Day races at Ascot today, Frankel's dominance (again) of his rivals was a sight to behold. As pointed out in the comments below, Frankel has won his nine races by a combined 46 lengths.
French runner Cirrus Des Aigles capped off the day by edging out So You Think at the wire of the Champion Stakes.
UPDATE #2: Sectional times were added to Ascot prior to the British Champions Day, which for the firs time allows us to look at some internal splits for Frankel. You can find splits for the entire field on the At The Races website. I've summarized Frankel's splits below.
| Dist. | 1/8 Split | 1/4 Split |
| 1f | 15.76 | |
| 2f | 11.94 | 27.70 |
| 3f | 12.63 | |
| 4f | 11.89 | 24.52 |
| 5f | 11.56 | |
| 6f | 10.99 | 22.55 |
| 7f | 11.93 | |
| 8f | 12.75 | 24.68 |
| Final | 1:39.45 | |
The ground was rated "Good" at Ascot today, and the final times were pretty quick throughout the day. As you can see by the numbers above, Frankel won the QEII from the 4 furlong mark to the 7 furlong mark. Over those four panels he clicked off 1/8 splits of 11.89, 11.56, 10.99 and 11.93. By the time the field was inside the final furlong the matter had been decided. The 12.75 final clocking might seem a bit slow, but it was almost a 1/2 second faster than any other horse in the field.
That 15 second first quarter furlong (which was almost the same for every horse in the field; even the pacesetter Bullet Train went 15.01), suggests to me that there wasn't much of a run-up to the first timing mechanism.
| Race | Dist/Surf | Winner | Odds |
| British Champions Long Distance | 24.0 (T) | Fame And Glory (GB) |
3/1 |
| British Champions Sprint Stakes | 6.0 (T) | Deacon Blues (GB) |
5/2 |
| British Champions F&M Stakes | 12.0 (T) | Dancing Rain (IRE) |
6/1 |
| British Champions Mile (QE II Stakes) | 8.0 (T) | Frankel (GB) |
4/11 |
| British Champions Middle Distance (Champion Stakes) | 10.0 (T) | Cirrus Des Aigles (FR) | 13/1 |
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Comments
Just totally awesome
Frankel goes to 9 for 9. Freakishly good racehorse. A pleasure to watch ply his trade.
Agreed
He gets to the front so easily; all the others are being asked for everything they got and Frankel is just cruising. Such a brilliant animal.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
by Matt Gardner on Oct 15, 2011 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions
It was almost like watching him do a morning gallop
His mate sets off in front, he gets asked to go and pick him up and go past, and meanwhile the rest of the horses in the race melt away into the background behind him.
Added together the winning distances for the 9 wins now 46 lengths.
At some point, maybe a horse will give Frankel a true test...
but so far, there’s hasn’t been any that’s been able to do it. There was never a doubt; Immortal Verse and Excelebration are decent horses and they had no shot to win that race.
Impressive once again.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
A great race for the Champion Stakes also
Cirrus des Aigles wins for France. Breaks the course record to do it. So You Think and Snow Fairy for the minors – yet again running to within a length of each other.
At about the 1/2 furlong mark I thought So You Think had a shot to hold on
but the winner really wore him down in those final yards.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
by Matt Gardner on Oct 15, 2011 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions
Someone's already put the BBC race coverage of Frankel
up at youtube – featuring their new gismo, race leaders speed in m/ph always shown on screen (all runners racing with a transponder). Adding – the promised sectional timings never really materialised.
The first race shown over here on our feed - the long distance
had the sectionals on screen, and then we never saw them during any race after that. I had to search the BCD/At The Races website to find them.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
by Matt Gardner on Oct 15, 2011 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions
Did the jock even touch Frankel?
Incredible run. Just grinds everyone else into the turf then slams the door shut down the stretch. He really is one of the more impressive horses in recent memory.
by TFTribe on Oct 15, 2011 2:13 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I think he went to the whip once inside the final furlong
But it wasn’t much and I think he was just keeping his mind on business.
While normally the MPH stats don’t mean much to me, I found them really interesting on the replay. You can really see how the undulations on the straight mile impact the speed of the horses. The speed will sit around 38 or 39 MPH, and then drop a few points when they hit an uphill portion. Then the speed will go up again when they go downhill.
Right before Frankel passes the pacemaker, the MPH was 36.87. As soon as he hits the front it jumps up to 40.50. When they hit that final furlong, it drops back down to 36, which is probably when they hit another incline.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
by Matt Gardner on Oct 15, 2011 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Gallop out
I hadn’t noticed the gallop out until I watched the replay that I embedded above. In every race he fights Queally when he tries to pull him up after the line. Fortunately, they have a lot more room to pull up at Ascot, as opposed to Goodwood.
"A bad day at the track is better than a good day at the office."
And Down The Stretch They Come | @PressThePace
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