Frankel named Horse of the Year

Owned and bred by Prince Khalid Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and trained by Henry Cecil, Frankel also won the three year old colt category at the 21st staging of the awards last night.

Unbeaten Frankel has been named Horse of the Year at the 2011 Cartier Racing Awards.

Owned and bred by Prince Khalid Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and trained by Sir Henry Cecil, Frankel also won the three year old colt category at the 21st staging of the awards last night.

Branded the Usain Bolt of horse racing, Frankel was last month calculated to be worth £100 million (Dh579.4m) by one of Britain's biggest bloodstock agencies.

Now unbeaten in nine starts, Frankel's season included victories in the 2,000 Guineas, the St James's Palace Stakes, the Sussex Stakes and a spectacular performance in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot last month.

Frankel is set to continue racing as a four year old next season, when a step up in distance could further cement his reputation as one of the greatest racehorses of all time.

Founded in 1991, the Cartier Racing Awards cover European horse racing. Winners are decided by points earned in group races plus votes cast by British racing journalists and readers.

After last month's win in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, Frankel was given a rating of 143 by Timeform, their fourth-highest of all time for flat racing behind Sea Bird II (145), Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel (both 144).