Frankel equals Danehill in becoming fastest sire to 100 stakes winners
It was a case of calculators and calendars at the ready yesterday but no there was no mistaking one particular achievement as the valuable Emotion became her sire Frankel’s (Galileo) 100th individual stakes winner in the Chalice Stakes (Listed, 1m 4f) at Newmarket.
Statistical double-checking revealed that the reigning champion sire has equalled the record time in order to achieve the milestone with the breed-shaping Danehill (Danzig), a Juddmonte product who went on to worldwide success under the Coolmore umbrella and shuttled to Arrowfield Stud in Australia.
The pair both took exactly 2,402 days to reach that number, clocking on from January 1 in the year that their debut crop would be eligible to race.
Danehill, who had extended his prospects by shuttling to the southern hemisphere, held the record alone when future stallion Commands claimed the Missile Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Rosehill on July 31, 1999. Frankel is superficially a day earlier from his maiden crop in 2016 but has had one extra leap year day during this time.
Frankel, who became the fastest to 50 northern hemisphere Group winners last year, picked up stakes winner number one with the first of what are now seven crops of racing age when Fair Eva took the Princess Margaret Stakes (Gr 3, 6f) at Ascot.
Frankel has also achieved notable success in Australia where he has earned ten of his individual stakes winners.
Miss Fabulass was the first stakes winner when in 2018 she won the Tea Rose Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m), while Yulong’s Hungry Heart was the stallion’s first Group 1 winner in Australia when winning the Vinery Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) in April 2021.
Since then, Frankel has recorded a further two Group 1 winners in Australia through Metropolitan (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Mirage Dancer and JJ Atkins (Gr 1, 1600m) scorer Converge.
Frankel has reached the milestone of 100 individual stakes winners from 612 runners for a stakes-winners-to-runners ratio of 16.3 per cent.