Do We Have Another Frankel?





The thing that I love about following 2-year-old racing is you never know what to expect when the season starts and If another special horse will stand out like the mighty Frankel. It doesn't look likely that we will ever find another Frankel to be honest as he was just a freak of nature. Frankel was born 11 February 2008 and unbeaten in 14 races and has an official Timeform rating of 147. He had a list of major wins to his name including ten Group 1s and earned an impressive £2,998,302 in his short career. I think this season we have a nice 2-year-old who has great potential but can he get anyway near Frankel?





PINATUBO (Pictured) is the top-rated 2-year-old so far this season with a Timeform rating of 125 and I can see why. The Shamardal colt was born March 11, 2017 and owned by Godolphin. Trainer Charlie Appleby started Pinatubo off in a Novice Stakes race at Wolverhampton and you could see the potential straight away as he powered home by over three lengths. He beat Platinum Star that day who has since gone on to win a Listed race at Ripon.





The Woodcote Stakes at Epsom would be Pinatubo’s next race and the evens favourite didn't disappoint as he took it in his stride and demolished another good field. By this time it seemed everybody could see that Pinatubo looked a class act. His next run would see him take on the best of the rest.





The Might of Ballydoyle





Royal Ascot loomed next and Pinatubo would be taking on the might of Ballydoyle. The Aidan O’Brien 900,000 euro colt Lope Y Fernandez would be his next victim in the Chesham Stakes. Pinatubo still had his doubters, and he was an unbelievable 3/1. Going up in distance didn't make any difference as James Doyle rode the perfect race and Pinatubo sprinted clear to win easily. I know I say easy but this was without breaking a sweat and in doing so beat the 2-year-old track record with a time of 1 min 25.73sec.





Vintage Display





The Group 2 Vintage Stakes would be his next race as the Irish were back for another crack. This time Lope Y Fernandez was only third favourite as the bookies didn't make the same mistake again and made Pinatubo the 6/4 favourite. It was another demolition job as Pinatubo eased to victory this time lowering the colours of the Mark Johnston trained Visinari. The second that day was the Clive Cox trained Positive who has since gone onto win the Group 3 Betway Solario Stakes at Sandown. Make no mistake the form is rock solid and with future entries in the National Stakes, Champagne Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes it looks like being an exciting end to the present 2-year-old season.





Only One Frankel





Frankel only raced four times as a 2-year-old winning the Royal Lodge and the Dewhurst before embarking on what was a spectacular 3-year-old career. As for Pinatubo he has the world at his feet and is a clear favourite for the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket next year. There will never be another Frankel but in Pinatubo we have a real exciting colt, who I for one hope he goes onto bigger and better things next year. Thanks for reading and good luck.