Frankel Headed to Juddmonte International or Sussex Stakes

After adding a seventh straight score to his exciting career, Frankel (Galileo) – Britain's stand-out runner of the season – looks set to graduate from the three-year-old division and take on older contenders in his next outing. It was a very interesting race in the St James Palace Stakes – the headliner on the festival's opening day – and the Juddmonte-owned bay colt perhaps exposed a bit of vulnerability by going to the lead so early after stablemate Rerouted (Stormy Atlantic) set down lightning fractions in the early going.

Many racing observers will agree that Tom Queally may have simply thought Frankel's cruising speed would ensure that he was able to hold off any late challengers but Zoffany (Dansili) offered up a stern test in the final furlong with a furious late-dash that really took the gloss off of Frankel's performance.

Queally and his charge asserted themselves in incredible fashion when pounding past Rerouted midway through the contest. Frankel supposedly came out of the race very well and apparently was not pushed to his bottom by his pilot, though many consider today's effort to be proof-positive that the option to skip Epsom was probably the right one.

When asked about a potential face-off with Canford Cliffs (Tagula) and Goldikova (Anabaa) Frankel's conditioner Henry Cecil declared “it's inevitable... unless this horse gets a mile and a quarter in the Juddmonte International... It'll be the Juddmonte International or the Sussex Stakes but it's too early to say.”

Canford Cliffs was able to hold off a late charge from the French super mare in the day's opener, the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes. It was another rousing iteration of that famous contest and there's plenty of intrigue ahead as Frankel moves up to the handicap division with whispers about a potential Breeders' Cup Turf being the finale of his 2011 campaign.

What remains quite obvious for many to see is the fact that Frankel still has plenty of developing to do and likely won't reach his peak until next season – a tantalizing possibility for fans of British flat racing. With today's performance he began to evolve in observers minds and is beginning to look less like his sire Galileo and more like his dam-sire Danehill with each passing race.