The 2012 Flat season, all about Frankel and Black Caviar, is memorialised in Timeform's latest Racehorses annual
There's a famous TV clip about Arkle in his pomp in which an Irishman responds to the question: "Tell me what the conversation is like in the evenings here in the pubs," with: "It's only Arkle, Arkle, Arkle, Arkle. Arkle that's all. Arkle the whole way." Sprinter Sacre may get even closer at Aintree next week, but in the same way that steeplechasers are surely likely to stumble on the way to challenge Arkle's supremacy over jumps, it is unlikely any horse, for a generation at least, will challenge Frankel's similar dominance on the Flat.
That is reflected in Timeform's newly published Racehorses of 2012 annual. Interestingly, the respected ratings organisation state that their highest-of-all-time rating of 147 could have been awarded to Frankel "after his first win [of the season] in the Lockinge Stakes [at Newbury]". They took a "slightly cautious view of the form" as it was so early in the season and it wasn't until his breathtaking win at Royal Ascot that he was anointed "greatest-ever".
The Henry Cecil-trained runner's victory, only challenged in visual terms during his career by his 2,000 Guineas demolition the previous year, earned this description: "Frankel's superiority over his contemporaries was never better exemplified than by his victory in the Queen Anne Stakes. No horse in Timeform's 66-year experience would have beaten him that day."
"Many of the current generation of British racegoers will be lucky to see another as good," state Timeform, who tackle the colt's critics, too, in the opening of their essay with the comment: "If there were modern cynics who did not stand quite so much in awe of Frankel's achievements as they were expected to, it was perhaps because the racing world is a more exciting place than it was in Sea-Bird's and Brigadier Gerard's day and today's champions have the chance to prove themselves on the global stage."
Their conclusion holds no truck with such a view: "Did it really matter that Frankel never ran at a mile and a half, or that he never raced abroad, or on any surface other than turf? It is necessary to go back to the 19th century, when Ormonde won 16 out of 16, to find an undefeated champion on the Flat in Britain who retired with such an extraordinary record. In terms purely of the quality of his performances, the measure used by this annual to compare horses, Frankel had nothing left to prove. He was a phenomenon for the racing world to wonder at."
Black Caviar was the other superstar of the racing world in 2012, providing the single most dramatic moment of the year at Royal Ascot, when her jockey almost threw victory away in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
The hugely anticipated clash between the pair never materialised, though Timeform disagree with those who criticised the mare's connections for "ducking" a meeting with Frankel in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. Black Caviar's return to Royal Ascot in June would very likely be the highlight of this racing year if it comes off and would help cement what this annual describes as the transformation of Australia's international reputation from "something of a racing backwater" only 10 years ago.
Cirrus Des Aigles, who got the closest to Frankel on the track in 2012, starts this season as Timeform's highest-rated horse in training in Europe but once again won't be able to run in the continent's most important race, the Arc de Triomphe in his native France, because he is a gelding.
"The arguments [for the exclusion of geldings from certain races] are nonsensical," argue Timeform. "High-class colts regularly meet geldings in the North American triple crown races, but defeat, when it happens, doesn't damage their popularity with breeders. Why should it? The presence, when they come along, of high-class geldings in the top races increases competition and provides a stiffer test for the colts – as well as making it far better entertainment (where would Europe's top sprints be without geldings?)"
Danedream's feat last year in becoming the first filly or mare to complete the Arc and the King George double affords Timeform another opportunity to discuss the worrying long-term decline of the Ascot race, described by them as "Britain's Arc de Triomphe.""The value of the King George has gone up during Betfair's sponsorship … but there is still work to do if the reputation and original aim of the race is to be preserved," say Timeform.
Where do we look for the other highlights of 2013? Timeform are not convinced about the 2012 Derby winner Camelot, who "worryingly hinted at temperament when finding less than expected off the bridle" in failing to complete the Triple Crown in the St Leger and then when only seventh in the Arc.
Could it be from the 2,000 Guineas favourite, Dawn Approach, who has a lofty position at the head of the betting for next month's Classic because "his form is so far in advance of that of his contemporaries"?
Certainly, Frankie Dettori's comeback when his ban ends on 20 May will provoke plenty of coverage, while the Breeders' Cup in November will once again bring the thorny issue of drug use in North American racing to the fore. "Most of the top trainers in the States have rule violations on their records involving banned substances," point out Timeform, "but few of the wrongdoers have been given severe punishments, something which has made the American public increasingly cynical about the sport."
Timeform's Racehorses of 2012 is published by Portway Press at £79. Reported by guardian.co.uk 9 hours ago.
There's a famous TV clip about Arkle in his pomp in which an Irishman responds to the question: "Tell me what the conversation is like in the evenings here in the pubs," with: "It's only Arkle, Arkle, Arkle, Arkle. Arkle that's all. Arkle the whole way." Sprinter Sacre may get even closer at Aintree next week, but in the same way that steeplechasers are surely likely to stumble on the way to challenge Arkle's supremacy over jumps, it is unlikely any horse, for a generation at least, will challenge Frankel's similar dominance on the Flat.
That is reflected in Timeform's newly published Racehorses of 2012 annual. Interestingly, the respected ratings organisation state that their highest-of-all-time rating of 147 could have been awarded to Frankel "after his first win [of the season] in the Lockinge Stakes [at Newbury]". They took a "slightly cautious view of the form" as it was so early in the season and it wasn't until his breathtaking win at Royal Ascot that he was anointed "greatest-ever".
The Henry Cecil-trained runner's victory, only challenged in visual terms during his career by his 2,000 Guineas demolition the previous year, earned this description: "Frankel's superiority over his contemporaries was never better exemplified than by his victory in the Queen Anne Stakes. No horse in Timeform's 66-year experience would have beaten him that day."
"Many of the current generation of British racegoers will be lucky to see another as good," state Timeform, who tackle the colt's critics, too, in the opening of their essay with the comment: "If there were modern cynics who did not stand quite so much in awe of Frankel's achievements as they were expected to, it was perhaps because the racing world is a more exciting place than it was in Sea-Bird's and Brigadier Gerard's day and today's champions have the chance to prove themselves on the global stage."
Their conclusion holds no truck with such a view: "Did it really matter that Frankel never ran at a mile and a half, or that he never raced abroad, or on any surface other than turf? It is necessary to go back to the 19th century, when Ormonde won 16 out of 16, to find an undefeated champion on the Flat in Britain who retired with such an extraordinary record. In terms purely of the quality of his performances, the measure used by this annual to compare horses, Frankel had nothing left to prove. He was a phenomenon for the racing world to wonder at."
Black Caviar was the other superstar of the racing world in 2012, providing the single most dramatic moment of the year at Royal Ascot, when her jockey almost threw victory away in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes.
The hugely anticipated clash between the pair never materialised, though Timeform disagree with those who criticised the mare's connections for "ducking" a meeting with Frankel in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood. Black Caviar's return to Royal Ascot in June would very likely be the highlight of this racing year if it comes off and would help cement what this annual describes as the transformation of Australia's international reputation from "something of a racing backwater" only 10 years ago.
Cirrus Des Aigles, who got the closest to Frankel on the track in 2012, starts this season as Timeform's highest-rated horse in training in Europe but once again won't be able to run in the continent's most important race, the Arc de Triomphe in his native France, because he is a gelding.
"The arguments [for the exclusion of geldings from certain races] are nonsensical," argue Timeform. "High-class colts regularly meet geldings in the North American triple crown races, but defeat, when it happens, doesn't damage their popularity with breeders. Why should it? The presence, when they come along, of high-class geldings in the top races increases competition and provides a stiffer test for the colts – as well as making it far better entertainment (where would Europe's top sprints be without geldings?)"
Danedream's feat last year in becoming the first filly or mare to complete the Arc and the King George double affords Timeform another opportunity to discuss the worrying long-term decline of the Ascot race, described by them as "Britain's Arc de Triomphe.""The value of the King George has gone up during Betfair's sponsorship … but there is still work to do if the reputation and original aim of the race is to be preserved," say Timeform.
Where do we look for the other highlights of 2013? Timeform are not convinced about the 2012 Derby winner Camelot, who "worryingly hinted at temperament when finding less than expected off the bridle" in failing to complete the Triple Crown in the St Leger and then when only seventh in the Arc.
Could it be from the 2,000 Guineas favourite, Dawn Approach, who has a lofty position at the head of the betting for next month's Classic because "his form is so far in advance of that of his contemporaries"?
Certainly, Frankie Dettori's comeback when his ban ends on 20 May will provoke plenty of coverage, while the Breeders' Cup in November will once again bring the thorny issue of drug use in North American racing to the fore. "Most of the top trainers in the States have rule violations on their records involving banned substances," point out Timeform, "but few of the wrongdoers have been given severe punishments, something which has made the American public increasingly cynical about the sport."
Timeform's Racehorses of 2012 is published by Portway Press at £79. Reported by guardian.co.uk 9 hours ago.