Frankel Named Cartier Horse-Of-The-Year

Frankel (Galileo – Kind by Danehill/Rainbow Quest) was named Cartier Horse Of The Year at the awards ceremony in London. The three-year-old colt, owned and bred by Khalid Abdullah and trained by Sir Henry Cecil, Frankel also took the honours in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt category.

Frankel swept all before him in 2011, taking his unblemished record to nine. His 2011 season included stunning victories in the Qipco 2000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes, Qipco Sussex Stakes and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on the inaugural British Champions Day in October. The Galileo colt will remain in training for 2012, when he is likely to step up in distance to 10 furlongs. He was recently awarded a Time Form Rating of 143 – the highest mark awarded by the organisation in over forty years and their fourth-highest of all time behind Sea Bird, Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel. He is named after the late American trainer Bobby Frankel which appears to be a fitting honour and the colt has a conservative value of £100 million.

In the Cartier Horse Of The Year category, Frankel’s competition included Champion Stakes winner Cirrus Des Aigles, Coral-Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes scorer So You Think, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Danedream and last year’s horse of the year Goldikova who was recently retired and is due to visit Galileo in the coming season. Galileo also happens to be the sire of South African Horse-Of-The-Year, Igugu(AUS).

His rivals in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Colt category were the star sprinter Dream Ahead, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes victor Nathaniel, Investec Derby hero Pour Moi and Irish Derby scorer Treasure Beach.

Cirrus Des Aigles, trained by Corine Barande-Barbe, landed the Cartier Older Horse prize, while the David Simcock-trained Dream Ahead, winner of the Darley July Cup, Betfred Sprint Cup and Prix de la Foret, lifted the Cartier Sprinter Award.

Danedream, who won the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in record time, came out on top in the Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly category. Dabirsim, unbeaten in five starts for trainer Christophe Ferland, won the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Award.

The Aidan O’Brien-trained Maybe also went through her first campaign undefeated to be named Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly. Her stablemate, Fame And Glory, took the Cartier Stayer award. Barry Hills, who enjoyed an outstanding training career and handed over his licence to son Charlie in August, has been voted this year’s Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit winner. Hills, 74, sent out more than 3,200 career winners in an illustrious career that began in 1969.

Story courtesy www.sportinglife.com