Controlled explosion from Frankel was no more than Sir Henry expected

NameYear of birth 2008
Pedigree Galileo (sire) - Kind (dam)
Trainer Sir Henry Cecil
Jockey Tom Queally
Owner Khalid Abdullah
Before the duel After four unbeaten starts as a 2yo, Frankel blitzed his rivals from the start in the 2,000 Guineas. Things went far less smoothly in the St James’s Palace where he won by a diminishing three quarters of a length
After the duel Frankel proceeded to enter into the racing pantheon, his perfect career ending on Champions Day 15 months later with success over 1m2f to make it 14 out of 14.

Name Year of birth 2007
Pedigree Tagula - Mrs Marsh (Marju)
Trainer Richard Hannon snr
Jockey Richard Hughes
Owner The Heffer Syndicate, M Tabor & D Smith (Canford Cliffs)
Before the duel A brilliant winner for three successive seasons at Royal Ascot, Canford Cliffs arrived at Goodwood as the title holder in the Sussex Stakes and was on an unbeaten run of five G1s
After the duel Having hung badly up the Goodwood straight and never threatening to lay a glove on Frankel, it was discovered that Canford Cliffs had sustained a pastern injury to his near foreleg. He never raced again and was retired to Coolmore Stud.

As every Hollywood hack would prefer you didn’t know, a great tagline is only as good as the story it is promoting.

Whether consciously or not, the original Duel on the Downs owed its grand title to the rather less grand occasion of a novelty match race between US legend Bill Shoemaker and Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup-winning jockey Julie Krone, in a trumped-up battle of the sexes.

The Duel at the (Canterbury) Downs in Minneapolis went the way of Krone, while it is a fair bet that the epic battle between Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus over the closing two rounds of the 1977 Open at Turnberry – soon dubbed the Duel in the Sun – lay somewhere towards the forefront of the minds that sought to promote both races thereafter.

Yet in the early days of Great British Racing's forebear, Racing For Change, the meeting of Frankel and Canford Cliffs in the 2011 Qipco Sussex Stakes was deserving of every extra bit of PR polish it could get.

When in it came to attempts to lure in new disciples to the racing cause, the sheer joy of Frankel was his apparent simplicity. He just ran faster and harder than the rest.

In the stiletto late attack of Hughes and Canford Cliffs he would be meeting his perfect foil.

Canford Cliffs: wins from Goldikova in the 2011 Queen Anne Stakes - his third Royal Ascot successCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

While much was made of Frankel's all-action running style, Canford Cliffs had been far from straightforward at two, half running away with Richard Hughes in the Coventry Stakes but still winning by six lengths. By the time he picked off three Group 1s over a mile at three, he was giving his rider a much easier time of things.

Recalling the horse he frequently refers to as the best of his career, Hughes says: "He was exuberant but he wasn't a tearaway. We just had to teach him to learn how to race if we were going to get a mile."

A cosy defeat of Goldikova in the Queen Anne Stakes showed just how far Canford Cliffs had come.

"We thought he would win going to Ascot and the only thing that put a bit of a dampener on it was [Olivier] Peslier doing overweight [on Goldikova]," says Hughes. "But Canford Cliffs was the type of horse who would never win by far anyway."

For his part, Frankel had begun his three-year-old career like an amplified version of the juvenile Canford Cliffs: all power and speed without perhaps having yet acquired a proper understanding of his own destructive force.

After producing a logic-defying solo in the 2,000 Guineas, Frankel remained at least somewhat in check until the halfway stage in the St James’s Palace Stakes before overdrive was engaged.

Six lengths clear of his pursuers when passing his pacemaker, Frankel was only three quarters of a length ahead of Zoffany at the line, while those closest to the horse watching from the Ascot stands had been given an almighty fright.

Trainer Sir Henry Cecil and jockey Tom Queally had hatched a plan to strike before the turn but the man in the hot seat was forced into early action as his rivals chose to completely ignore Rerouted blasting off in front.

"I had to make a decision to move up," said Queally in the immediate aftermath, "though we were going to do that anyway. He galloped and he lengthened when he went clear, and he's so good he was doing it easily. He wasn't tired, he was just idling."

Many of the racing public weren’t buying it and blamed Queally for almost losing the race aboard a horse they had already come to believe was unbeatable.

Cecil’s public utterances between races were naturally rationed, on account of both his frailty and his belief that Frankel's on-course exploits were a far more powerful form of advocacy.

But in an interview with Chris McGrath – now of the Racing Post but then writing for the Independent – Cecil gave an insight into his true feelings about the Ascot near miss, as well as his desire for Frankel to show a new, more nuanced brilliance.

"Let's face it, the race went wrong, didn't it?" Cecil told McGrath. "That's all there is to it. Hopefully, this race will go right. A horse won't gallop for ever, will it? This horse is determined. If he's asked to go, he'll gallop. He's very willing, wants to go and do it. He was a bit too willing, at one time. But he is growing up an awful lot now, is a lot more settled. I hope in future he'll impress people another way."

The Duel fails to materialise

Frankel opens up on the way to success in the 2011 Sussex Stakes at GoodwoodCredit: Mark Cranham

Twelve months earlier Canford Cliffs had been the young tyro rolling on from the St James’s Palace and in receipt of the 8lb weight-for-age pull from Rip Van Winkle.

Now the roles were reversed and he would be facing a rival that just didn’t appear to play by the normal rules.

With Hughes sat in his slipstream, Queally dictated matters. as Frankel remained in cruise mode for longer than he had at either Newmarket or Ascot. Much longer.

It was long after the final turn when Queally finally let out a little rein, at which point his partner positively bounded into the bit, accelerating away and answering Cecil's prayer that he would be "impressive in another kind of way."

Five lengths behind and by now under the protective cover of the standside rail after lugging left, Canford Cliffs appeared to have been cast aside in the same careless manner as all those who had tried before him.

Cecil had considered writing down his prediction of a five-length margin in advance and, when asked by reporters if he was surprised by his own horse’s dominance, he replied: "It's an awful thing to say, but no. I have great respect for Shergar and Blushing Groom at his best. They gave me the impression of being very out of the ordinary. The days of Tudor Minstrel were before my time, but I think Frankel is probably the best horse we've ever seen. I am very lucky."

Frankel became a hero with the wider public when Khalid Abdullah (left) allowed him to race onCredit: Edward Whitaker

Added to Cecil's verdict, owner/breeder Khalid Abdullah offered the ultimate gift to fans when he promised the colt could stay in training at four “if Henry wants it”.

Soon enough a more prosaic factor in the disparity between the two colts would emerge: Canford Cliffs had suffered a pastern injury and would not be lining up in the yearned-for rematch. Instead, retirement to the covering sheds beckoned.

Before the extent of Canford Cliffs’ discomfort had become apparent Hughes dictated his own detailed reaction to defeat for the pages of this paper under the title "It would have been nice if we’d had a duel."

Today his thoughts remain much he same as in those disappointing hours that followed his own champion's defeat.

"It was a big occasion but it didn't change anything for us anyway, we knew we had a very good horse," says Hughes. "In hindsight, I'm not saying he would have beaten Frankel but he would have run a much better race and it was unfortunate he got injured and couldn't show that."

The 2011 Sussex remains a tantalizing split personality of a memory: we were denied knowing whether a fully-firing Canford Cliffs might have at least pushed Frankel close; yet it was a dazzling performance from the winner, imbued with a growing maturity and signs that there would indeed be other ways for him to impress both his master and the racing world in the months to come.