Frankel wins York's Juddmonte International to remain unbeaten

Frankel wins York's Juddmonte International

Unbeaten Frankel enhanced his reputation as one of the greatest horses in history by easily taking the Juddmonte International at York.

It takes the Sir Henry Cecil-trained colt's record to 13 wins from 13 races.

Despite stepping up in distance to 10 furlongs for the first time, the world's top-rated horse (1-10) powered through the field to take a record eighth consecutive Group One victory.

The Tom Queally-ridden four-year-old won the £725,000 race by seven lengths.

Frankel has now surpassed Rock of Gibraltar's mark of seven Group One wins in a row.

Cecil, who has battled stomach cancer since 2006, was at York to see his prized asset extend his perfect record.

"It's fantastic and it's great for Yorkshire, they're very supportive of racing and deserve to see him. [It helped me feel] 20 years better," he said.

Godolphin's Farhh (10-1) finished in second place, ahead of Ballydoyle's St Nicholas Abbey (5-1) in third.

Having been slowest out of the gate and then finding himself caught in the middle of the field in the opening stages, Frankel came past St Nicholas Abbey on the near side with two furlongs to go and then eased to victory in the Ebor Festival's showpiece race, sponsored by Frankel's owner Khalid Abdullah.

"Every man and his dog had his penny's worth as to where he should run and what he should do, but to run him in the owner's race and to go and win 13 from 13 speaks for itself," said Queally, who has mounted the Newmarket horse to each of his remarkable wins.

Queally said that he was prepared for the two Ballydoyle horses Robin Hood and Windsor Palace acting as pacemakers for St Nicholas Abbey, and was grateful to Eddie Ahern for doing the same for Frankel on stable-mate Bullet Train.

"I suspected they would go a good gallop, but we had a plan in place. Eddie Ahern did a good job on Bullet Train and it panned out nicely," he said.

Uncertainty remains over how many more outings Cecil will give Frankel, but a career finale at Ascot's British Champions Day in October is a distinct possibility.