Frankel to silence the doubters again as most expensively bred crop comes online

Given his brilliance on the track and the opportunities afforded to him during his early years at stud, the scrutiny on Frankel's stallion career was always going to be intense. But those looking to find fault will thus far have endured a hard time.

With four full crops of three-year-olds on the ground, Frankel's record is headed by 12-top flight winners who have struck in five different countries. That dozen are among 106 stakes performers, a list that includes 43 Group scorers and 17 more names who struck at Listed level.

Those results translate into some decidedly punchy statistics too. He is operating at a clip of 14 per cent stakes winners-to-runners globally and a 25 per cent ratio of black-type horses-to-runners. By any measure, those rate as exceptional numbers.