Frankel completed a brilliant undefeated career winning for the 14th time in the Champion Stakes on Saturday at Ascot in England, staking his claim as one of the best racehorses ever with a 1 3/4-length victory over the top-class French invader Cirrus des Aigles.
Dunaden, the 2011 Melbourne Cup winner, returned from a summer in the Northern Hemisphere and impressively captured the Group 1 Caulfield Cup on Saturday in Australia, rallying from 16th to beat Alcopop by a half-length.
More rain fell at already sodden Ascot Racecourse on Friday afternoon, prompting the first statements of concern from the connections of Frankel, the undefeated superstar who is entered to race Saturday in the Champion Stakes.
Excelebration will be a strong favorite to win the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, his first start in more than two months. The break between races should have Excelebration a fresh horse if, as expected, his connections attempt a QE II-Breeders’ Cup Mile double this fall.
The Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday could be Frankel’s sternest challenge as he makes just his second start in a race longer than one mile and likely the final race of his career.
It was raining Wednesday in south-central England, and as far as meteorologists could tell, it was going to continue to rain all the way through Saturday’s Champions Day card at Ascot, when Frankel is all but certain to make the final start of an already legendary career.
Americain and Dunaden, two past winners of the Melbourne Cup, are part of the field for Saturday’s Group 1 Caulfield Cup in Caulfield, Australia, but are considered outsiders in an 18-horse field led by the English import Glencadam Gold.
Gentildonna became the fourth filly to capture the Japanese Triple Crown for fillies with her nose victory over Verxina in Sunday’s $2.3 million Shuka Sho at Kyoto Racecourse.
Undefeated favorites won both Group 1 races for 2-year-olds Saturday at Newmarket in England, but Reckless Abandon’s victory in the Middle Park Stakes required far more grit than it took for Dawn Approach to win the Dewhurst Stakes.
Camelot, the winner of three classic races in England and Ireland earlier this year, was recovering on Friday from a colic operation conducted on Thursday, according to a statement released on Twitter by Coolmore Stud.
