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British superstar miler Frankel looks to stretch out to ten furlongs at York in the Juddmonte International Stakes (Group 1) tomorrow at 10:40 AM Eastern time. It looks to be an honest pace and Frankel should face some stiff competition with the likes of defending Breeders' Cup Turf champion St. Nicholas Abbey (IRE), solid Group 1 running Farhh (who finished second to Frankel last time out in the Qipco Sussex Stakes), and Frankel's stablemate Twice Over.
The field certainly knows that you cannot possibly beat Frankel from behind, so expect one of the long shots to push the pace and not allow Frankel to run (relatively) easy fractions through the first 6-7 furlongs. Allowing him to be comfortable, even at his high cruising speed, certainly won't allow for any challengers to steal a win from Frankel. I expect O'Brien to send either Robin Hood or Windsor Palace to the front in order to try to disrupt Frankel's ideal pace and attempt to set up St. Nicholas Abbey to make a move on Frankel.
Should be a great race and an interesting challenge for Sir Henry Cecil's superstar colt. I don't see the 10 furlongs being an issue and I certainly expect Frankel to win going away. A mile never seemed to tire him, so no reason he can't go another quarter while still running away from the field.
Post positions and morning line odds after the jump.
NO. | POST | HORSE |
TRAINER | JOCKEY | M/L |
1 | 6 | Bullet Train | Sir Henry Cecil | Eddie Ahern | 200-1 |
2 | 4 | Farhh | Saeed Bin Suroor | Frankie Dettori | 12-1 |
3 | 7 | Frankel | Sir Henry Cecil | Tom Queally | 1/7 |
4 | 8 | Planteur | Marco Botti | Ryan Moore | 40-1 |
5 | 5 | Robin Hood | A P O´Brien | Seamie Heffernan | 300-1 |
6 | 2 | Sri Putra | Roger Varian | Neil Callan | 50-1 |
7 | 3 | St Nicholas Abbey | A P O´Brien | J P O'Brien | 11/2 |
8 | 9 | Twice Over | Sir Henry Cecil | Ian Mongan | 20-1 |
9 | 1 | Windsor Palace | A P O´Brien | C O'Donoghue | 200-1 |