Our Ben Linfoot looks at Frankel’s potential influence on the Betfred Derby while considering commercial sensitivities in the stallion-making race.
No Galileo? No problem.
Wind the clock back five years and there was a glimmer of hope for everyone in competition with Aidan O’Brien when it came to the Betfred Derby.
Serpentine (remember him?) proved to be Galileo’s fifth and final Derby winner and with the super stallion at the end of his career there appeared to be a gap in the market.
No son of Galileo had come forward and put his hand up for the top job at Coolmore and that meant two behemoth non-Coolmore stallions, Frankel and Sea The Stars, could pave the way to Derby riches for other racing operations.
Indeed, in 2021, Adayar won for Frankel, Godolphin and Charlie Appleby, while the following year it was the turn of Desert Crown, his sire Nathaniel, Saeed Suhail and Sir Michael Stoute.
However, a changing of the guard it wasn’t. Back roared O’Brien and Coolmore with three Derby winners on the trot; Auguste Rodin thanks to Deep Impact, City Of Troy who won for American Triple Crown winner Justify and last year Lambourn, for Australia, a son of Galileo. Auguste Rodin and City Of Troy were out of Galileo mares.
Lambourn was O’Brien’s 11th winner of the Derby, but he still cites his first, Galileo, as his best.
His exploits at stud certainly back that up – siring 100 individual Group 1 winners a staggering achievement – and for all of his sons that ended up at Coolmore, it’s his finest son, Frankel, standing at Banstead Manor for Juddmonte, who looks to have the best chance of following in his footsteps by siring multiple Derby winners.
In some ways it’s surprising he has just the one to his name so far in Adayar, but, like his father, Frankel has that quality of imparting stamina into his progeny even if the dam excelled over shorter trips.
Breeding Galileo with speedier mares became a golden goose for Coolmore, the examples endless, Ruler Of The World (out of a miler) and Anthony Van Dyck (out of a sprinter) the best Derby-winning evidence, while, of course, Frankel himself was out of a sprinter in Kind.
For proof that Frankel is a chip off the old block look no further than Adayar and also his Irish Derby winner, Westover. Adayar was out of a miler in Anna Salai and Westover’s dam, Mirabilis, won over both seven furlongs and a mile.
Such a quality increases his chances of Derby success and this year he has a handful of chances going forward to Epsom following Tuesday’s forfeit stage, including the first two in the betting; Benvenuto Cellini and Item.
O’Brien’s Benvenuto Cellini has already proven his stamina for the Derby trip having run out a decisive winner of the Boodles Chester Vase, over the extended 1m4f under a penalty, and he’s very much out of a speedy mare, the scintillating 2018 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf winner Newspaperofrecord.
Having a Derby-winning son of Frankel in the Coolmore breeding sheds would add another dimension to the roster in the post-Galileo era and you do wonder how much an influence that has had on him being the chosen one.
Benvenuto Cellini’s claims are obvious and so are Item’s, the second favourite, Andrew Balding’s Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes winner a potentially crucial future stallion for Juddmonte, as well, after his York success.
He still has to prove himself at a mile-and-a-half, especially given he was so impressive over the extended 10 furlongs at a speed track like York, but the Frankel factor gives him hope of staying even if his dam, Capla Temptress, was an out-and-out miler.
It’s not just about the first two in the betting for Frankel as he has some interesting outsiders, too; Ancient Egypt for Amo Racing and Charlie Johnston, the Newmarket Stakes winner, Action for O’Brien and Coolmore, the Dante runner-up who is a three-parts brother to Lambourn, and Proposition for the same stable, the Chester Vase runner-up who is closely related to Magical and Rhododendron.
While a win for Juddmonte or Amo Racing with their sons of Frankel would bring some welcome variety to the Derby roll of honour, it looks ominous that O’Brien has three of his progeny lined up, amongst others, as he bids for a record-extending 12th success in the race.
It’s odds-on one of Benvenuto Cellini or Item wins, the strongest of hands for Frankel.
And if he’s to get close to his own sire Galileo’s record of producing five Derby winners, the time for number two is now.
Wootton doubts part of Constitution dilemma?
Other pedigrees that scream a mile-and-a-half would be Maltese Cross’ – by Sea The Stars out of a Camelot mare – while Pierre Bonnard is another that could well improve at the distance being by Camelot out of a dam that won over 1m4f.
Indeed, it will be interesting to see if those stout pedigrees come to the fore over the well-fancied Frankel progeny, who are largely relying on their sire’s influence to get home.
One final point of interest from a stallion point of view is the as yet unknown participation of Constitution River, with O’Brien suggesting last week that the son of Wootton Bassett was probably heading for the Prix du Jockey Club over the extended 10 furlongs at Chantilly.
While Ballydoyle traditionally run their best middle-distance colts in the Derby, there has been a slight change of policy in recent seasons and I do wonder if last year’s race was a learning curve when it came to trying to wedge a square peg in a round hole.
Both Delacroix and The Lion In Winter tried and failed to stay the Derby distance before dropping back in trip, so it’s no wonder France looks a premium option for Constitution River given O'Brien looks to have the 1m4f distance covered off with other colts.
Constitution River’s dam is a full-sister to Wonderful Tonight, a Group 1 winner over 1m4f, but Wootton Bassett’s best progeny have excelled over 10 furlongs with only Al Riffa, out of a Galileo mare, winning at the top level over a trip (1m6f).
Maybe Constitution River will stay a mile-and-a-half, but after the gears he showed in winning the Dee Stakes he looks to have the speed for Chantilly and, like it or not, the Prix du Jockey Club is just as important a race for Coolmore these days following the recent victories of 2026 stallions St Mark’s Basilica and Camille Pissarro.
Perhaps when the Coolmore team are dividing things up, sending the best Frankel progeny to Epsom and their best son of Wootton Bassett to France makes the most commercial sense.
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