Frankel’s eggs all in one basket heading into Ascot

With the prospect of soft or even heavy ground for British Champions Day at Ascot, it is a slight surprise that Frankel is only entered into the Champion Stakes.

Frankel is 1/7 to win the Champion Stakes and the race is 99 per cent likely to be his final career appearance before being sent to stud.

Extending his unbeaten record to an unblemished 14 career starts will be the main objective and connections have decided to keep Frankel over 1m2f.

It certainly promises to be his toughest assignment, as based on official ratings, Cirrus Des Aigles will be the most talented opposition that he has come across, off a mark of 130.

This is still way adrift of Frankel’s rating of 140, but soft conditions will not be ideal over a distance considered, by his connections at least, to be his maximum.

Cirrus Des Aigles has looked a bit of a beast on his two starts on similar surfaces this season and given that he is a previous winner over 1m4f, stamina should pose no problems as he bids to win the Champion Stakes for the second year in succession.

It is 4/1 that Cirrus Des Aigles is the first horse to beat Frankel.

Although Frankel is a previous winner on soft, the firmer the ground the better and the more rain that falls in the coming days must be considered a detriment to his chances.

Therefore, it may prove to be a mistake that Frankel is not still among the entrants for the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day over 1m.

This may not have been the most appreciated decision with horse racing fans, but would have been safer for guaranteeing a Frankel victory and the team have been reluctant to take risks so far this season in particular.

Chief among these was the decision to keep Frankel out of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.