Frankel completed his preparation for the Lockinge Stakes with a workout on grass at Newmarket that left trainer Sir Henry Cecil delighted with his unbeaten champion.
Cecil resisted the temptation to work Khalid Abdullah’s colt round the bend where he sustained the minor leg injury that put his training schedule back a week and caused connections several anxious days waiting for the result of a scan which revealed no damage to Frankel’s tendon.
Instead, he telephoned Newmarket’s clerk of the course Michael Prosser and arranged for Frankel to work on a different piece of ground ahead of next Saturday’s date at Newbury.
“Michael kindly let me work on a very nice piece of ground and I’m very happy with him,” Cecil said.
“It’s important for racing that he continues from where he left off. Every sport needs a champion.
“At the moment he is on course for next week.
“Although he missed ten days, I’m not saying he’s not going to improve for the race but I hope I have got him well enough.
“For any sport to have a champion, they (the public) follow them, so let’s hope he continues to give them enjoyment and pleasure.”
Cecil added that he is yet to decide whether to run Frankel’s brother Noble Mission in the Dante Stakes at York next week.
“He needs another race to sort him out,” he said.
“He’s improving but it’s important not to over-race a horse like him.”
