We featured this article on him in this slot last week, and honestly we didn’t plan to do another quite so soon. But, when it comes to Frankel, you can’t take anything for granted. The Juddmonte wonder just has to be the focus again this week - because he’s broken into the top ten in the TRC Global Sires’ Rankings.
This is only the second time in the life of the rankings that a stallion has made the top ten with just two crops in training - Uncle Mo did it last year.
Frankel is one of the biggest points gainers across all four categories of the rankings this week. His eight-point gain lifts him from #13 to #8, continuing an astonishing rise over the past fortnight (he was #19 the week before).
And you can expect him to go on climbing. This week’s rankings don’t take into account the action going on this week at the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival. His son Cracksman added to his tally with an impressive win in the G2 Betway Great Voltigeur Stakes yesterday, and there’s probably going to be more success for his progeny before the week is out.
Frankel now has a 26 percent strike rate of wins to runs in global Group or Graded races in the current three-year rankings window (16 places from 61 runs). Compare that with top-ranked Galileo, who is 132/771 (17 percent), and #2 Dubawi 92/511 (18 percent).
Frankel’s fine start to his stallion career is well documented, but things have really stepped up a gear this summer. Last week’s rise to #8 was largely thanks to two G2 winners (the Ballydoyle 2-year-old Rostropovich at the Curragh, and the Martyn Meade-trained Eminent, impressive scorer at Deauville) and one G3 winner (Lady Frankel, trained by Andre Fabre) also at the French track.
But he has been performing like one of the leading stallions for much of the summer already. Go back to the beginning of June, for instance, and his achievements stand comparison with all bar his own sire and Dubawi. Based on places in all Group of Graded contests worldwide, he stands at #6 among the current top ten. (Note that Deep Impact is at a considerable disadvantage here with very little Japanese racing having taken place during this period.)
Top ten sires since June 1 (re-ranked by number of Group and Graded places)
Stallion | World rank | Modal Country | G1 wins (places) | G2 wins (places) | G3 wins (places) | Total wins (places) |
Galileo | 1 | GB | 6 (20) | 5 (9) | 8 (14) | 19 (43) |
Dubawi | 2 | GB | 2 (9) | 3 (6) | 5 (8) | 10 (23) |
Dark Angel | 7 | GB | 1 (3) | 3 (5) | 3 (8) | 7 (16) |
Teofilo | 9 | Aus | 1 (3) | 2 (3) | 3 (10) | 6 (16) |
Sea The Stars | 4 | GB | 1 (3) | 2 (6) | 3 (6) | 6 (15) |
Frankel | 8 | GB | 0 (2) | 3 (5) | 3 (6) | 6 (13) |
Candy Ride | 9 | USA | 3 (5) | 0 (1) | 1 (3) | 4 (9) |
Curlin | 5 | USA | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 1 (3) | 5 (9) |
Tapit | 6 | USA | 2 (2) | 0 (1) | 1 (5) | 3 (8) |
Deep Impact | 3 | Japan | 1 (3) | 0 (1) | 2 (4) | 3 (8) |
Of course, Frankel, as a second-season sire, does not yet have the overall body of work of a Galileo, a Dubawi, a Deep Impact or a Tapit. The reason the TRC algorithm that drives the world rankings is so excited about him, however, is because it has come to expect a high level of performance from his offspring, and feeds that into its calculations.
Go back over just the most recent two weeks of the rankings, in fact, and Frankel comes out as #3 based on places in Group and Graded races:
Top ten sires since Aug 7 (re-ranked by number of Group and Graded places)
Stallion | World rank | Modal Country | G1 wins (places) | G2 wins (places) | G3 wins (places) | Total wins (places) |
Galileo | 1 | GB | 0 (2) | 1 (4) | 2 (4) | 3 (10) |
Teofilo | 9 | Aus | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (4) | 3 (6) |
Frankel | 8 | GB | - | 2 (2) | 2 (3) | 4 (5) |
Dubawi | 2 | GB | 0 (2) | 1 (1) | 1 (2) | 2 (5) |
Dark Angel | 7 | GB | 0 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 (1) | 1 (3) |
Tapit | 6 | USA | 1 (1) | - | - | 1 (1) |
Sea The Stars | 4 | GB | - | - | 0 (1) | 0 (1) |
Deep Impact | 3 | Japan | - | - | - | - |
Curlin | 5 | USA | - | - | - | - |
Candy Ride | 9 | USA | - | - | - | - |
The other notable sire in form here is Darley’s shuttle stallion Teofilo (another son of Galileo), who is a big climber himself this week, a seven-point gain lifting him from #13 (he was tied with Frankel) to joint #9 (tied with Candy Ride).
His star was the Roger Varian-trained Ajman Princess, winner of the G1 Prix Jean Romanet at Deauville on Sunday. Certainly Teofilo has enjoyed success in Europe recently, but his trump card is Australia, so watch for his ranking to get even better as the season gets into full swing there over the next few weeks.
Another sire gaining seven points in the latest rankings is Aussie champion Snitzel, who is up 11 places to #18. The remarkable Arrowfield Stud stallion was responsible for three G3 winners. He’s another you can expect to flourish rankings-wise come Spring Carnival time.
Click here for a list of last week’s biggest TRC Global Rankings points gainers.
Click here for a list of the week’s Group and Graded winners.