'Frankel was the people's horse but for a magic moment I had him all to myself'

I awoke the day of Frankel's debut to the sound of rain on the conservatory roof. Oh dear, Sarah had chosen this day for our annual trip to Newmarket. We had been going to one of the Newmarket Nights fixtures each year for several years and this year Sarah had chosen the night that Westlife were playing after racing.

We always looked forward to our trip from Epsom to Newmarket. Invariably, the weather was good. We'd stop for lunch at our favourite pub and then head to the racecourse. The drive from Six Mile Bottom to the July course is always a highlight for me. But that day, it was raining and showed no signs of relenting. It was going to be a wet Newmarket Night.

I looked at the card in the Racing Post over lunch. It was typical of a music night, with a Class 3 handicap being the best race on the card, backed up by a few lower-grade handicaps and a couple of two-year-old maidens. I know this, as I've still got the racecard. But what I read in the Racing Post made me forget about the weather. In one of the two-year-old races, the preview said that Henry Cecil had his best two-year-old making his debut. Reports from the gallops were positive and the fact that he had been named Frankel, after the late Bobby Frankel, who had trained for Prince Khalid Abdullah in America, suggested he could be a bit special.

I made up my mind that I was going to go to the pre-parade ring to try to catch a glimpse of Frankel. It was raining when we arrived at the course and was still pouring down when racing started. Sarah and I had found a dry spot in a bar behind the stands and venturing out to watch the first race was not even contemplated. Despite the incessant rain, I headed towards the pre-parade ring as the second race was in progress.

For those who have been to the July course, you will know what a special place the pre-parade ring is. For those who haven't, put it on your bucket list. It's the only parade ring I know where you stand in the middle, as the horses walk around you. On a hot day, the tree-lined paddock is the perfect place to get out of the sun. But on this wet Friday night, I was standing there alone when I first clapped eyes on the horse who would go on to be the greatest of all time. Even to my untrained eye, he looked impressive. He was bigger and stronger than the other two-year-olds in the field.

I watched the race from the lawn just beyond the winning line and as they came out of the gloom, I remember Derek Thompson calling Frankel home, as he asserted inside the final furlong from Nathaniel. At the time I didn't realise I was watching probably the best maiden race ever.

I was fortunate enough to see Frankel in five more of his races. But by the end he was the people's horse and there was no chance of me having him to myself, as I had that rainy night at Newmarket. Little did I know I was standing in the presence of greatness. Those few minutes will stay with me forever.

Tony Wells
Epsom

Read more fantastic articles on Frankel here:

'I had a lot of money on Frankel that night - I just couldn't see him beaten'

Reliving Frankel's debut: ten years on from the legend's winning start

Frankel: an imaginative retelling of the legendary story

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