Teddy Grimthorpe: connections are awaiting the results of a definitive scan
PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)Frankel team deny retirement rumours
CONNECTIONS of Frankel were forced to deny rumours circling on Saturday afternoon that the superstar colt had been retired.
Frankel injured an off-fore in a routine gallop on Wednesday morning and suggestions the world's highest rated horse had run his last race spread like wildfire as the eyes of the racing world were fixed on the John Smith's Grand National.
However, Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Frankel's owner Khalid Abdullah, assured fans that was not the case.
"He certainly hasn't been retired," he said on Racing UK. "No decsion at all will be made until after he's had this definitive scan. No decsion has been made regarding his future."
Grimthorpe confirmed the scan -"towards the end of the week", as he had earlier told the Racing Post - remains crucial in determining whether Frankel can race as a four-year-old.
Frankel was due to have a gallop at Newbury next weekend but Grimthorpe does not believe that will happen regardless of the scan result, and his scheduled reappearance in the JLT Lockinge Stakes is reckoned "very unlikely".
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