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Frankel by Simon Cooper
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Frankel

The Greatest Racehorse of All Time and the Sport That Made Him

$29.39

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Narrator Rupert Bush

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Length 11 hours 22 minutes
Language English
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In horse racing greatness is defined by speed. Being the second fastest counts for little. You have to win. And win. And keep winning until every challenger of your generation is put to the sword. Of the twelve horses lined up on Newmarket Heath that 2011 day, one would do just that. And more. To become the greatest racehorse that has ever lived.
Frankel was born on 11 February 2008, with four white socks and a blaze, from impressive equine lines on both his parentsโ€™ sides. Simon Cooper revisits the whole of the horseโ€™s life, giving readers an inside tour of the calm oasis that is life a stud farm, where a foal will live with his mother for the first year of his life. Next, the atmosphere of heady possibility that marks the early days of training. Roadwork. Gallops. Trials. Turning raw potential into something more. Frankel begins to set himself apart.
A detailed and fast-paced narrative breathlessly recounts the racing career of the horse who, by his retirement to stud at the age of 4, would be rated the greatest of all time. Cooper weaves the horseโ€™s tale with those of his trainer, battling cancer, the stablehands who coped with his explosive nature, the work rider who tamed him, the the jockey who rode in all fourteen of his races, and the owner who saw his potential from the very beginning. The result is a rich and multifaceted tale of modern horse racing, the lives of everyone involved, human and equine, and the unadulterated glory of winning. And winning everything.

Simon Cooper is the Wainwright Prize-winning author of The Otterโ€™s Tale and Life of a Chalkstream. He is also one of the UK's leading chalkstream conservationists. In a former life, Simon worked in the horse-racing industry, so has unprecedented access to the stud farms, stables and racetracks that are integral to Frankelโ€™s story.

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Limited-time offer

Get two free audiobooks!

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Reviews

Praise for Frankel โ€˜An imaginative retelling of the legendary story โ€ฆ Cooper paints a complete picture of Frankel, charting his meteoric rise from the first years of his life through to his glorious send-off when winning the Champion Stakes at Ascot โ€ฆ transporting the reader with his vivid descriptions โ€ฆ While he is undoubtedly the star of the show, this book is about so much more than just Frankel โ€ฆ Thanks to Cooper, and his dedication to colouring the blanks in this famous story, we can now know Frankel a little better tooโ€™ Racing Post โ€˜Well-researched and written with an enthusiastโ€™s brio. Moreover, it is utterly engrossing โ€ฆ Frankelโ€™s story is an extraordinary one and Cooper tells it in an easy, compelling style โ€ฆ [He] takes the reader on an equine pilgrimage, all the more thrilling as the object of veneration is still just 12 years old and standing at stud near Newmarketโ€™ The Field โ€˜Simon Cooper does a sterling job โ€ฆ a wry, amiable guide, Cooper takes intriguing tangents aplenty โ€ฆ his real skill, though, lies in detailing Frankel's day-to-day lifeโ€™ i newspaper Expand reviews
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