Frankel defying expectations by looking the real deal

Expectations of what Frankel might achieve with his first two-year-old runners were tempered by some sobering truths.

Yes, he was the outstanding talent of the modern era on the track, but we knew that the majority of stallions fail, that his stock had received mixed reviews at auction and that many of his runners, owned by their breeders, would be in no hurry to grace a racecourse.

So what Frankel has managed to achieve in the first half of the Flat season – seven winners from just nine runners in Europe, three of them stakes-placed and one a Group 3 winner at the head of betting for the 1,000 Guineas – has been startling.