Frankel wins Champion Stakes at Ascot and will be retired unbeaten

Despite the tension among a sellout crowd of 32,000 at Ascot, Frankel remained calm through the buildup to the race. Indeed, he was perhaps too calm as he walked out of the starting stalls when the race began.

Ian Mongan, riding Frankel's pacemaker, Bullet Train, spent the early stages of the race looking around to see where his stable companion had disappeared to. Meanwhile, the French challenger Cirrus Des Aigles got the run of the race near the front and had a handy lead over Frankel as the field turned for home.

At that point, Frankel was fourth and came widest into the straight. Tom Queally, his rider, had to push his horse to make sure he went past Cirrus Des Aigles in the final furlong and even used his whip once but his mount was clearly superior by the time the line was reached.

Afterwards his trainer Sir Henry Cecil said: "He didn't like the ground much but he was very relaxed. He's the best I've ever had. He's the best I've ever seen. I'd be surprised if there's ever been any better."

Frankel was returned at odds of 2-11, very short but unusually generous in the case of this horse, punters having been put off by concern as to whether he could cope with a saturated racing surface that was heavy in places.

The colt will now be retired to stud at Newmarket for a second career as a stallion.

This article was written by Chris Cook, for The Observer on Saturday 20th October 2012 16.28 Europe/London

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