? Mercurial colt to start race from stall one, furthest from stands
? Nijinsky's record may fall as bookies offer no bigger than 4-7
Frankel will face just 12 opponents, the smallest field for 15 years, when he lines up for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday, when he could become the shortest-priced winner of the colts' Classic since the second world war. However, he will be loaded into stall one, it was revealed, and will emerge with the rest of the field to his left and the wide expanse of Newmarket Heath on his right, raising concerns that he will race freely unless Tom Queally, his jockey, can find some cover.
It took Queally a couple of furlongs to get Frankel completely under control before winning the Dewhurst Stakes last October, after the colt was "lit up" by a bump from an opponent as he left the stalls. However, as Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Frankel's owner, Khalid Abdullah, pointed out on Thursday, "it turned out all right in the end", and he was sanguine about the issue.
"He's drawn where he's drawn and we can't do anything about that," Grimthorpe said. "The race will pan out as it pans out. He just wants to be able to get into his stride and the stalls are in the middle, so, from that point of view, it's better than being bunched up on the rails."
Zafonic, who also carried Prince Khalid's famous pink, green and white colours, was a 5-6 chance in 1993 when he became the last odds-on favourite to win the 2,000 Guineas. Doyoun (1988) and Shadeed (1985) at 4-5 are the only other odds-on chances to take the first Classic since Nijinsky, who launched his run to the Triple Crown in 1970 when he became the shortest-priced post-war Guineas winner at 4-7.
Frankel is currently top-priced at 4-7 for Saturday's race, with many bookmakers shorter still at 8-15 and 1-2, and, with public money likely to arrive in support of Henry Cecil's colt, there must be a chance that he will start an even warmer favourite than Nijinsky. There is little chance that he will be the shortest-priced Guineas winner of all time, however, a record that seems sure to remain with St Frusquin, the 1896 winner at 12-100.
"Luckily, Frankel doesn't read the papers, he doesn't have a Betfair account and he doesn't bet," Grimthorpe said. "Everything is an open book at the moment, but he has certainly generated a great deal of interest."
Watering will continue on Friday on the Rowley Mile and Michael Prosser, the clerk of the course, expected the races for both the 2,000 Guineas and the 1,000 Guineas on Sunday to develop down the centre of the track. "The plan is to irrigate on Friday, starting at dawn," Prosser said. "Once that's complete, we will walk the course in the afternoon and Turftrax will take independent readings for the stands' side, the centre and the far side. Those will be posted on the British Horseracing Authority website.
"We would hope to see the best horse win with an unimpeded run up the centre. The decision to move the stalls to the middle of the course was taken after consultation with owners, trainers and jockeys after 2002, when Indian Haven suffered interference in the 2,000 and Six Perfections [the runner-up] had to come around the whole field in the 1,000.
"They were adamant that we should put them in the centre and there should be no reason for anyone to deviate from the middle of the course."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/28/frankel-drawn-one-guineas
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