Canford team think 'big boys' could beat Frankel

FRANKEL is going to find life significantly more difficult against the "big boys" in the eagerly anticipated Qipco Sussex Stakes, according to connections of last year's winner, Canford Cliffs, who goes for a repeat.

Frankel has carried all before him in his seven starts against his contemporaries, including a magnificent front-running win in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas, and is disputing favouritism for the 1m Group 1 Sussex Stakes with the year older Canford Cliffs.

However, Richard Hannon jnr, assistant trainer to his father, believes Frankel will be vulnerable when he faces the older horses for the first time.

He said: "Frankel is a very, very good horse and worthy of utmost respect, but he is a three-year-old among the big boys now and he might well find it tough."

Hannon, who described Canford Cliffs as "a proper man", admitted the multiple Group 1 winner was becoming increasingly lazy and added that taking on a new rival in Frankel would be what the horse needs to spark him into action. 

"He is getting very lazy - he has seen it all before," Hannon said. "He loves his routine but we change it about a little bit and that is why Goodwood and taking on a fresh horse may be a good thing."

He added: "I don't remember a race that I have looked forward to so much."

Hannon's views will be of interest to Frankel's jockey Tom Queally, who is planning to look for as many "chinks in Canford Cliffs' armour" as he can.

The tactics employed by Sir Henry Cecil's stable jockey could prove significant.

The Khalid Abdullah-owned runner set a scorching gallop when winning the 2,000 Guineas and made an aggressive mid-race move, having initially followed a pacemaker, when just lasting home in the St James's Palace Stakes - a ride that received widespread criticism.

Cecil has already said that Frankel will be ridden differently but Queally was tight-lipped on his plans for Goodwood.

"It is hard to know [how Frankel will be ridden] - there may be contrasting tactics to what we have seen already," Queally said.

"From my point of view, all I can do is look for chinks in Canford Cliffs' armour, like in the races he has been beaten in."

He continued: "Frankel wants to please you - he is a trier. A lot of horses with that amount of ability get there, prick their ears, pull up and all sorts - not him, he just wants to keep going. It is going to be a great spectacle."