Frankel unlikely to run in Lockinge Stakes

Frankel now is considered very unlikely to make his intended 2012 debut in the Lockinge Stakes on May 19 at Newbury after suffering an injury – perhaps striking his foreleg with his hind hoof – while training Wednesday.

News of the injury first surfaced Thursday, and Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager for Juddmonte Farms, provided more detailed information about Frankel’s status on Friday. Frankel has swelling and soreness on the back of his lower right-front leg, and though an initial scan of the injury site revealed no major damage, a follow-up scan will be performed next week, perhaps Friday, after swelling in the leg has subsided. Given that timeframe, Frankel is “very unlikely” to make the Lockinge, Grimthorpe told At the Races on Friday.

“The initial scan, which is done on portable scan, showed no damage and no hole, which is positive, which led us to believe and hope it was superficial or just a minor injury,” Grimthorpe said. “But obviously, with a horse of this nature, or any horse actually, we have to be incredibly careful, especially with injuries of this type in this area.”

Grimthorpe said that even if Frankel gets a clean bill of health next week, he might not even be ready for the Royal Ascot meet, which runs June 19-23. Four-year-old Frankel, a Juddmonte homebred, has won all nine of his starts, five of them at the Group 1 level.