Grenadier Guards is the 12th Gr1 winner for Frankel lifting Sunday’s Asahi Hai Futurity (1600m) at Hanshin.
Second behind the clear leader Mondreise approaching the home turn, Grenadier Guards made up the leeway and swept by with 200m left to travel, holding off the later rally from Stella Voice (Bago) to score by three-quarters of a length in 1:32.30 – a track record.
It is the second win from four starts for the Northern Farm-bred which is trained by Mitsumasa Nakauchida for Sunday Racing.
Grenadier Guards is the first foal out of Wavell Avenue (Harlington), who won the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint and was second in the same race the following year. She was catalogued for sale in the 2016 Fasig-Tipton November Sale but was withdrawn and purchased privately by Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm.
The granddam Lucas Street (Silver Deputy) won five races and Listed placed in Canada while the third-dam Ruby Park (Bold Ruckus) is a Listed winner and Gr3-placed in Canada.
Grenadier Guards is the third Gr1 winner in Japan for Frankel following Yushun Himba and Hanshin Juvenile Fillies Stakes winner Soul Stirring and Yasuda Kinen and February Stakes winner Mozu Ascot.
Grenadier Guards has no inbreeding in his first four generations. Frankel has done well with mares from the Mr Prospector-line, notably Gr1 winner Without Parole (Lemon Drop Kid) as well as Gr winners Finche (Woodman), Rostropovich (Machiavellian), Eminent (Kingmambo) while he has Gr2 winner Fashion Business out of a mare by Empire Maker, a son of Unbridled, the sire of Harlington.