Frankel and Cecil light up the year

By Pirate Irwin

PARIS, Dec 19 AFP - European Horse of the year Frankel, named in honour of a trainer who died of leukaemia, added to the emotion of his performances in 2011 as his trainer Sir Henry Cecil had also suffered from a life-threatening illness.

Frankel, named after US training legend Bobby Frankel who trained for the horse's owner Prince Khalid Abdullah, set the track on fire winning all five of his starts, including four Group Ones.

The crowd-pleasing miler's exploits confirmed a remarkable renaissance for Cecil who had battled against stomach cancer.

Frankel may have kept England's prime mile races at home but there was plenty of joy for foreign raiders during the year.

French master Andre Fabre finally cracked the Epsom Derby with Pour Moi under an audacious ride by youngster Mickael Barzalona while countryman Mikel Delzangles landed the Melbourne Cup and Hong Kong Vase with Dunaden.

German filly Danedream made a mockery of the formbook to take Europe's most prestigious race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, coming home by five lengths and breaking the 14-year-old race record.

One of the horses she beat at Longchamp, St Nicholas Abbey, was to have his day in the sun when he made it a memorable moment for Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien and his 19-year-old jockey son Joseph by winning the Breeder's Cup Turf.

However, it was Frankel who bestrode the sport throughout the year, winning his races by extravagant margins save only the St James's Palace at Royal Ascot when unfashionable Irish jockey Tom Queally was pilloried for all but costing him the race.

Despite this Cecil displayed his trademark loyalty and stuck with Queally who never made another mistake and Frankel rounded off the campaign on the inaugural Champions Day at Ascot in October with a four-length triumph in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

His performance, his ninth win in nine career starts, left those connected with the horse, including Prince Abdullah who had been one of the few owners to stick by Cecil in his dark days, scrambling for words to describe him.

"He's a champion, he's out of the ordinary and hopefully he will continue to prove himself next year," 68-year-old Cecil said.

"He did everything that we asked."

Frankel's win that day came at the end of a not so glorious week for British racing as their newly-introduced whip rules had been greeted with a mixture of ridicule and a threatened jockeys' strike.

Indeed top rider Richard Hughes pulled out of his rides on Champions Day in protest after he was punished under the new rules.

Sadly for the Ascot authorities the rules were to almost ruin their day as, under a great ride by Christophe Soumillon, French challenger Cirrus des Aigles won the Champion Stakes and upset former crack Aussie galloper So You Think.

However, while the French gelding was to keep the race, Soumillon was handed a suspension and had his winning prizemoney, nearly STG50,000 ($A78,709), taken away.

"Why do they try and cut our legs off?" blasted the Belgian ace.

"We are living in 2011, I thought we were civilised people but instead we are seemingly in the 18th century and their antique laws."

Soumillon was ultimately to get his money and the rules were toned down.

While Cecil managed to battle successfully against stomach cancer and live to fight another day, several racing characters departed.

Ginger McCain, the man who trained the legendary three-time Grand National winner Red Rum, died aged 80 in September.

A day later, Michael Jarvis, who trained Carroll House to win the 1989 Arc, also died.

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