RACING - HISTORY IN THE MAKING
It wasn't just the moment of 2011 - it was one of the most striking I've ever seen on a racecourse. It wasn't at the end of a race, nor at the beginning, but mid-contest. It was Frankel's 2000 Guineas.
We went to Newmarket to crown the king; after all he'd been a brilliant, unbeaten champion two-year-old.
A routine win over Excelebration in the Greenham at Newbury confirmed his wellbeing but it was all about the Guineas. The question mark going into the race was what tactics that would be employed?
The one potential Achilles' heel with Frankel was his keenness to get the job done. He took a fierce hold in a race, and on more than one occasion Tom Queally seemed to be a hair's breadth from losing the battle with his partner.
It must have been on connections' minds when they decided to employ Rerouted as a pacemaker, but in terms of jobs in racing that was second only to being BHA communications director during the whip debate in terms of poisoned chalices.
You see Frankel wasn't going to have a pacemaker. When the stalls opened, for the first and only time in his career, they let him roll.
It made for a quite spectacular sight. After a furlong, half the field were in trouble, and it just got better and better.
"Heading down to the half mile and it's Frankel and Tom Queally by five or six lengths," was the measured commentary of Ian Bartlett from high up the Newmarket stands. Moments later even he couldn't contain his excitement.
"At halfway Frankel is almost 10 lengths clear," he roared - and the crowd joined in. "At the Bushes and Frankel is 15 lengths clear," a stunned Bartlett continued. Never before has the final two furlongs of a Newmarket Classic been a lap of honour.
Magnificent.
Dave Ord (SL)
updated BTD