Sir Henry Cecil is all for a meeting between racing’s two unbeaten superstars Frankel and Black Caviar but concedes it could only happen in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood.
With Frankel due to make his eagerly-awaited reappearance in the Lockinge Stakes this weekend and Australian sensation Black Caviar having stretched her unbeaten tally to 21 last Saturday, racing folk continue to debate who would come out on top were the two ever to meet.
Black Caviar’s trainer Peter Moody suggested in a recent interview he would not be keen to step the sprinter up to a mile (1600m) on an undulating track, despite sponsor Qipco’s offer to increase the Sussex prize fund to STG1 million ($A1.62 million) .
Frankel is also due to step up in trip at some stage this season, with the 10 furlongs (2000m) of the Coral Eclipse a possibility for his first attempt over anything further than a mile.
“I’d love them to meet and it would be good for racing and racing needs champions. The only race they could meet would be in the Sussex Stakes,” Cecil said.
With Royal Ascot fast approaching, Cecil was desperately keen to get a run into his charge before then and, thankfully, he recovered from the injury he picked up in early April in time to make the Newbury contest.
“The injury should not recur and he’s fine. It is a hiccup we didn’t want. I think it is important to get a race into him before Ascot and it is a long time until then,” he told British Champions Series TV.
His options at Ascot are the Queen Anne over a mile or the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes over 10 furlongs.
The public got to see Frankel on 2000 Guineas day when the superstar took part in a racecourse gallop on the Rowley Mile, showcasing his blistering power against a couple of stablemates.
With Frankel set to grab the spotlight, Newbury officials are preparing for a bumper crowd.
“We’ve taken a lot of advance bookings during the past three weeks on the back of Frankel’s intended run here, but we’ve known about the possibility for some time and we’ll be ready,” said Newbury’s joint managing director Stephen Higgins yesterday.
