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Mum in a £100 Million

Frankel, who returns to action in the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury Racecourse this Saturday, might be the most valuable racehorse on the planet at £100 million, but what price his mum?
 
Kind, the mare that bore him, is now 12 years old and carrying a foal by Frankel’s dad, Galileo, who’s rated by many as the best stallion in the world.
 
This new edition to the family, when it’s born, won’t be the only other sibling by the great Galileo.  Frankel also has a three year old brother by Galileo, called Noble Mission, who’s already won two of his three races and is expected to run in the Investec Derby at Epsom in early June; a race won by his father who went on to win the Irish Derby and King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2001.
 
Frankel’s mum also proved to be a pretty smart racehorse, winning five races herself including ‘Listed’ contests at Nottingham and Hamilton.  However, she falls short of Frankel’s unbeaten record of nine wins and the official title of ‘best racehorse in the world’.
 
That success story started at Banstead Manor Stud near Newmarket, just before midnight on 11 February 2008 when Frankel was born.  Within a couple hours he was standing and just 11 minutes later was nursing his dam.  He weighed in at 123lbs.
 
Like his mum, Frankel has a white patch between his eyes as well as white socks on his feet, although he has four compared to her three.  His good looks were matched by a perfect temperament and it wasn’t long before he had impressed the stud manager and his owner, Prince Khalid Abdullah, a Saudi Arabian businessman.  Perhaps this explains why the horse was named after the legendary American trainer, Bobby Frankel, who looked after many of the Prince’s North American horses prior to his death in 2009.
 
Frankel spent the best part of two years growing up at Banstead Manor before being transported three miles across Newmarket to the care of 10 time champion trainer Sir Henry Cecil in January 2010.  Over the following seven months, Sir Henry taught him to become a racehorse and, on 13 August, Frankel made his first racecourse appearance a winning one.
 
At Newbury on Saturday, Frankel returns to the racetrack for the start of his third nail-biting season in the Group 1 JLT Lockinge Stakes, part of the QIPCO British Champions Series.
 
For further details on Frankel and the Series visit www.britishchampionsseries.com.

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