Southern Hemisphere Breeders Flock to Frankel

Unbeaten racehorse and now Gr1 sire Frankel (Galileo-Keen, by Danehill) has seen a rush of Southern Hemisphere bookings, reports bloodhorse.com. "He's been extremely popular and we've a good number of very high quality mares returning to him from Australia – he's essentially full now," said Shane Horan, the nominations manager at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud, who didn't divulge which mares had been booked to the super stallion. Frankel has sired three Group 1 winners in Australia this season; Converge (Frankel-Conversely, by Shamardal) in the Gr1 JJ Atkins Stakes, dual Group 1 winner Hungry Heart (Frankel-Harlech, by Pivotal), and Gr1 Metropolitan winner Mirage Dancer (Frankel-Heat Haze, by Green Desert). "To get a 2YO Group 1 winner in Australia is very, very important—and if that stallion doesn't stand in Australia, it garners a lot of attention, particularly if the stallion is already as well known as Frankel," said Horan. "You know the more you see from Frankel, you genuinely can't be surprised, he's just that good. The average winning distance of his progeny is two furlongs less than his own sire, Galileo. Let's not forget that Frankel's mother was a sprinter—and she was by Danehill." Interestingly, Frankel is bucking the trend with the Danehill cross. "As we know, inbreeding to Danehill is quite unsuccessful. Between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere it's been tried over 7,500 times—and it returns something like 1.1% stakes winners. (Frankel)'s results with inbreeding to Danehill are better than that—around 7%, but you give him mares without Danehill and he is significantly better, around 15%."