Rival owner Richard Hannon Jr issued an ominous warning to Godolphin's two-pronged challenge in the first English Classic of the season tomorrow by insisting Frankel just has to turn up to win.
The three-year-old, owned by Saudi Arabia's Prince Khalid Abdullah, is the most talked-about colt in years and has swept all before him so far in his five-race career. His juvenile campaign saw him pitched against Godolphin's much-fancied and previously unbeaten Saamidd in the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes in October and he produced a high-class display to win by two-and-a-quarter lengths.
Casamento and Saamidd, owned by the racing operation founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the Vice President of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, provide two of the opposition in the 12-strong field at Newmarket tomorrow in the 2000 Guineas.
"I think Frankel just has to turn up to win," Hannon, who owns Dubawi Gold, told At the Races. "He's looked extremely good so far and, as [trainer] Henry Cecil said, he's been trained for the Guineas and not the Greenham [which he won]. I don't see anything there to beat him and I don't see anything there to race him to be honest. We're all fighting out for the places by the looks of things, but [Dubawi Gold] is a horse who's done nothing wrong this year. He's a very talented horse and if things go right for him hopefully he can run into the four."
Tom Queally will pilot Frankel and said he has improved since he romped to victory in the trial at Newbury last month.
"He wasn't fully tuned up when he won at Newbury a couple of weeks ago, but the race has brought him on and he is a much better horse now than he was then," Queally said. "He has an extraordinary long stride and, if we get a sensible pace, I hope I'll be celebrating my first English Classic winner."
The jockey added: "There's a lot of talent in the race and he will be racing on ground faster than he's ever run on before, but there are also plenty of positives, not the least of which is that he has won over the course and will have the benefit of a pacemaker in Rerouted."
* Agencies
