Frankel last week received the official stamp of approval as the greatest racehorse of all time.
However, the world’s racing handicappers, the body which decides such weighty matters, in doing so also, for some, undermined the whole process by readjusting the historical weights given to previous great champions.
Dancing Brave, who by happy coincidence was also owned by Frankel’s owner-breeder Prince Khalid Abdullah, had been the previous standard bearer with a ranking of 141 (the ranking equates to weight in pounds).
However, the winner of perhaps the greatest Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in history in 1986, and winner of eight of his 10 races, saw his rating reduced to 138.
Frankel replaces him now as the historical benchmark with 140 which is due reward for his extraordinary record of 14 wins in 14 starts, including 10 Group Ones.
With other previous greats also seeing their achievements retrospectively downgraded – the ill-fated Shergar went from 140 to 136 – the handicappers attracted a volley of criticism.
Alone among sports, racing likes to make official who is the greatest of all time and the handicappers become hostages to fortune as a consequence.
Shergar’s jockey, Walter Swinburn, was stunned by the horse’s downgrading.
“I find the whole thing baffling. Trying to rewrite history is not the way to go,” Swinburn told BBC Sport.
“They could have made this simple and given Frankel a higher rating if needed and left the others where they were.”
However, despite his loyalty to Shergar, who still holds the record for the winning margin in the Epsom Derby of 10 lengths in 1981, Swinburn felt Dancing Brave was the horse that had been unfairly punished.
“Even though I rode Shergar, I would say Dancing Brave is the one that has been really hard done by. To my mind Dancing Brave was a really exceptional horse. They could have left them together,” said Swinburn.
Swinburn was supported in his criticism by leading National Hunt jockey Ruby Walsh, who felt the press were to blame.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” said the 33-year-old Irishman. “Frankel was hyped by the press and the handicappers have simply fallen in line.”
Phil Smith, England’s senior handicapper, defended the changes by saying it had been on the cards ever since Irish great Sea The Stars carried all before him in 2009 from the 2000 Guineas to the Epsom Derby to the Arc.
“To fiddle it just to get Frankel on a higher mark would be wrong. This wasn’t an exercise to make him the best horse,” said Smith.
“We thought it was best to be honest and say the system has changed, the methodology is different.
“A whole host of horses have been readjusted so, with reasonable certainty, we can compare horses from different generations.”
Marcus Armytage, who rode Mr Frisk to glory in the 1990 Grand National, said the handicappers had got it right.
“It certainly will not make much difference to Frankel, who will start the second phase of his career on Valentine’s Day, when he has the first of 100 assignations with an international A-list of broodmares in the stallion shed,” the 48-year-old wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
“He will shortly have other things than ratings – like sleep – on his mind.”
