Hipodromos y caballos - Racetracks and horses BloodStockReview2013 | Page 22

22 1 T H E C H A M P AT S T U D FR ANKEL sire the Hailed as the greatest in his racecourse pomp, his maiden book reads like a who’s who of leading ladies by Tom Pennington H IS days of supremacy on the racecourse may be over but that has not kept Frankel out of the limelight. The unbeaten ten-time Group 1 winner embarked on the next chapter of his career in 2013 in the serene surroundings of his owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah’s Banstead Manor Stud in Newmarket. The imposing son of Galileo slipped into stud duties flawlessly, covering 133 mares during the northern hemisphere season from between the middle of February and June 13. Of those, 126 were scanned in foal for a fertility rate of 95 per cent. Six of the seven mares not in foal were pregnant before suffering early foetal deaths. Frankel’s maiden book comprised a calibre of female talent comparable to that of pop lothario Harry Styles. It included 38 Group or Grade 1 winners and 26 dams of Group or Grade 1 winners. Such was the global demand from breeders for Frankel’s services, Juddmonte allowed a limited book of 22 mares to be bred on southern hemisphere time, of whom 18 are in foal, including eight-time Group 1 winner More Joyous. Frankel’s breathtaking exploits, K