World’s greatest horse to do battle on Knavesmire

Frankel promises to bring the house down tomorrow as York’s Ebor Festival gets under way and the unbeaten 12-time winner bids to carve out a new chapter in his extraordinary career.

Head and shoulders above his rivals over a mile, Frankel will be stepping up to one mile and two and a half furlongs in the £725,000 Juddmonte International Stakes, the richest race ever staged on Knvesmire and sponsored by Prince Khalid Abdulla, the proud owner-breeder of the best horse most people have ever seen.

Eight times a Group 1 winner, Frankel, trained by the peerless Sir Henry Cecil, faces eight rivals in his latest test but one of those is his own brother and stablemate, Bullet Train, his tried and tested lead-horse, while another is the likewise Cecil-trained and Abdulla-owned Twice Over, winner of this race last year.

Aidan O’Brien also runs three. St Nicholas Abbey, his prime challenger, will be accompanied by two of his own stablemates, Robin Hood and Windsor Palace, who both fall short of the standard required to win, but whose duties are likely to be to aid the cause of St Nicholas Abbey, a top-notch performer, who won the Coronation Cup at Epsom in June.

Godolphin’s Farhh, runner-up to Frankel in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood last month, having previously come off marginally second best to Nathaniel in the Coral-Eclipse, will also be in the field, along the formerly smart Planteur and Sri Putra, a recent York winner.

All in all, it’s a race not to be missed. Race tactics will be fascinating to watch as the contest unfolds. But, come the end, I confidently expect to see the great Frankel away and clear under Tom Queally to record a flawless 13-from-13 and provide racegoers with a sight that will remain with them for a long time to come.

It promises to be a great day for Cecil, Queally and Abdulla, not to mention the celebrated Frankel family. In the Great Voltigeur Stakes, Noble Mission, another of Frankel’s brothers, aims to further his progressive career by posting a notable Group 2 triumph in a race largely seen as a stepping stone to the St Leger, the season’s final Classic, at Doncaster next month.

Noble Mission may not possess Frankel’s charisma, but he is a high class horse all the same, and one who has seemingly thrived on racing. Most recently successful in the Group 3 Gordon Stakes, when he just got the better of Encke, Noble Mission is closely tied on form with stablemate Thomas Chippendale and also Thought Worthy. It promises to be tight, but Noble Mission is marginally preferred.

The nap vote goes to Ebn Arab in the Pinsent Masons LLP Acomb Stakes, a Group 3 contest for juveniles.

Trained by Charlie Hills, the colt cruised home by five lengths on this course last month, impressing his jockey Paul Hanagan, who takes the mount again tomorrow. Ebn Arab is fancied to cope with this step up in class.

The card opens with a wide-open affair, the Symphony Group Handicap over five and a half furlongs, in which Mass Rally earns the tentative vote.

Frustratingly difficult to win with, the Michael Dods-trained gelding does, however, possess an abundance of ability and was beaten by only inches at Ascot last time.

Paul Mulrennan rides him brilliantly and is likely to produce him as late as possible in the hope of putting Mass Rally’s head in front when it matters.

Also worth noting on a tremendous first day of racing at York are smart Irish raider Olympiad (4.15), trained by Dermot Weld for Sir Robert Ogden, and Sir Michael Stoute’s Sir John Hawkwood (4.50), winner of two of his three sorties and probably capable of even better in the future.

Racing selections

York (tomorrow)
2.00 Mass Rally, 2.30 Ebn Arab (NAP), 3.05 Noble Mission, 3.40 Frankel, 4.15 Olympiad, 4.50 Sir John Hawkwood.

Lingfield (tomorrow)
2.15 Chasin’ Rainbows, 2.45 Scarlett Fever, 3.20 Taqaat, 3.55 Spithead, 4.30 Burlesque Star, 5.05 Jocasta Dawn.

Tomorrow’s other meetings: Newton Abbot and Kempton.

Today’s meetings: Brighton, Perth, Warwick, Worcester and Yarmouth.