Ground provokes doubts about Frankel's swansong

The decision on whether super horse Frankel races in the Champion Stakes here later on Saturday will be taken after the early races have been run, said the owner's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe. Persistent rain through the week until Friday evening has made the going soft with the telling factor it being heavy in places on the round course on which Frankel will have to travel in the first part of the race. The Henry Cecil-trained colt, unbeaten in his 13 starts including nine Group Ones, prefers good going, though, he won his debut race on soft beating Nathaniel, who reopposes on Saturday, but heavy ground is unknown territory. Cecil himself said earlier in the week that he didn't mind soft but heavy would be them entering 'no man's land'. Grimthorpe, who is racing manager to Prince Khalid Abdullah, said that the two races earlier on the card to be run on the round course would tell them more about how the ground was cutting up. "We've walked the course in the morning, now we will see how the ground looks like after the first few races and if we feel it is dangerous we will consult with Henry Cecil and Prince Khalid," he said. Frankel, who is officially rated the greatest horse ever in Europe, is likely to be running in his final race and will face five rivals in the race that is scheduled for 1505GMT including last year's winner, the mud-loving French horse Cirrus des Aigles. He will, however, be aided by his older brother Bullet Train, who will as ever set the pace for him over the distance of 1 1/4 miles, a distance over which he is racing for only the second time.