SUPERHORSE WILL HAVE HIS FIRST OFFSPRING TO RUN IN A CLASSIC WHEN EMINENT CONTESTS 2,000 GUINEAS
ix years ago on this day, Frankel, Sir Henry Cecil’s horse of a lifetime, blazed his way into the public consciousness when he left his generation of milers standing; 12 lengths clear at halfway, he kept up a relentless gallop and ran out the six-length winner of the 2,000 Guineas. No horse was meant to do that in a Classic, and that day the legend was born.
Frankel remained unbeaten for the rest of his career, a total of 14 races, before being retired to the breeding sheds of his owner, Khalid Abdullah, at Banstead Manor, in Newmarket, where he covers mares for a fee of £125,000 (Dh594,127) a time.
Today, Frankel the stallion gets his first proper chance to stamp his mark on the thoroughbred breed when Eminent, ironically the son of Frankel nobody wanted and bred under the noses of Europe’s most powerful owner-breeder Coolmore, runs in this year’s Qipco 2,000 Guineas.
This imposing colt, who belies his size and weight by appearing to thrive on fast ground, brings with him an unblemished record of two wins from two starts at Newmarket, including the historic course’s own spring dress rehearsal, the Craven Stakes, just over a fortnight ago. So far, he certainly seems to be bearing his name and breeding well.
Frankel also has other chances of a first Classic winner with his first crop this weekend — Dream Castle, who lines up alongside Eminent in the 2,000, while Fair Eva will represent him in the 1,000 Guineas tomorrow.
Eminent is trained at Sefton Lodge, formerly Cecil’s second yard and populated by many of his former staff, in Newmarket by Martyn Meade, a new face at this level despite the fact that, on and off, he has held a licence for as long as Sir Michael Stoute, having first taken one out in 1972. He also owns half of the colt with New Zealand businessman Sir Peter Vela.
Eminent cost £150,000 — the second-cheapest Frankel to go through a sale ring — in a private deal. Meade liked the young colt, but assumed he would make three times his budget, so when he was led out of Tattersalls yearling sale unsold, the trainer hightailed it to his stable to conclude a deal.
Whole new vista
“I can only assume that those who saw him thought he would take a very long time to mature,” said Meade, “and did not want to gamble on him not maturing until he was three or four. I thought he had presence, a great eye and a good walk and I didn’t really care if he took time.
“Last season, it was a big responsibility to have a Frankel in the yard. The first hurdle was to win because everyone else was firing them in and I was hoping we wouldn’t fire the only dud.”
The most obvious trait Eminent shares with his sire is that, at the end of the Craven Stakes, it took jockey Jim Crowley some distance to pull him up. Indeed, Meade recalled that his main thought as Eminent crossed the line that day was whether or not Crowley would be able to stop him before he hit the main road that fringes Newmarket racecourse.
“One of the big problems running him over a mile, which is his minimum distance, is getting him travelling,” Meade explained, “but once he is travelling, there’s no stopping him. He’s a big horse, not like a little sprinter that can just take off, it is that whole motion thing, he’s a bit like an oil tanker to get going. We thought he would get further than a mile and seeing him finish like that proves it and opens up a whole new vista.”
Now the phone never stops ringing with offers for the colt that contain plenty of noughts. “The great thing with an owner like Peter,” said Meade, “is that he is not for sale. Agents tell me there is nothing they can’t buy, but we are adamant, he’s not for sale. And the great thing is the bubble doesn’t burst if he gets beaten today because there’s still the Derby. He probably is vulnerable to an out-and-out miler today, but is there one in the race?”
For much of Meade’s 45 years as a trainer, based in Wiltshire, his main focus was an investment company.
A self-confessed deal junkie, he remains non-executive chairman but five years ago, with good people in place, he handed over those reins and decided to give training a proper go and bought Sefton Lodge. He consolidated that move by purchasing nearby Snailwell Stud 18 months ago.
“I’m a racehorse trainer now — that’s what I do,” he explained. “My part-time job is trying to ensure the boys are still making money in the businesses.”
I first came across Meade when he asked me to ride a hunter chaser, Bridgetown Lad, for him at Haydock Park one Friday afternoon. He said he would give me a lift and told me to be at his home by 11am, which I felt was cutting it a bit fine for the first race. When I got there, a helicopter rolled out of the garage and it remains his primary mode of getting to the races. And if Eminent really does turn out to be Son of Frankel today, the trainer might well be flying higher than his regular transport.