Frankel's fantastic form continues

Snow Lantern won the Gr.1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket on Friday (9th July) to become Frankel's 17th top level winner and his fifth new Gr.1 winner of 2021. 

The Rockcliffe Stud homebred, last seen finishing second in the Gr.1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, is out of the multiple Group 1 winner Sky Lantern.

Frankel is the only sire in the Northern Hemisphere with three Gr.1 winning three-year-olds in 2021. On the same day, he also achieved his 50th worldwide Group winner after HM The Queen's Light Refrain won the Gr.3 Summer Stakes at York.

Taken from www.racingpost.com:

Snow Lantern, whose dam Sky Lantern was second in a controversial finish to the Falmouth Stakes in 2013, went one better when landing the Tattersalls-sponsored prize at Newmarket on Friday. Trained by Richard Hannon and ridden by Sean Levey, the 6-1 chance came fast and late to beat Mother Earth, a 5-1 shot.

Alcohol Free, the 5-2 market leader, was third, one place ahead of Lady Bowthorpe.

Always held in the highest regard, Snow Lantern is bred to be smart being by dual-world champion Frankel out of Sky Lantern, who won the 1000 Guineas in 2013, but was denied a Falmouth triumph when carried across the track by Elusive Kate. Connections appealed against that decision but were unsuccessful, although the memories of that may have faded, especially after Snow Lantern's success.

Levey, sporting the white and navy silks of the homebred winner's owner Rockcliffe Stud, said: "It means a massive amount. A lot of hard work has gone into this filly. It's a big deal today. I think she's learned with every run. She's known to be keen so my hands were tied tactically. I was trying to settle her. I thought it would be hard to get out of there [on the inside] but we were able to get out."

Beaten once at two, Snow Lantern won at Newbury in April before a Listed third at York's Dante meeting. She headed to the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, claiming second behind Alcohol Free and reversed that form when finding a powerful surge.

The grey, who had been settled in midfield against the rail, had to be switched to the centre of the track for that gear change.

"It's so lovely for the Keswick family who bred her," said Hannon. "There was a score to settle today in terms of her mother being running out of this race late on. It didn't go her way, but there was none of that today and I'm delighted."

The Prix Rothschild and Qatar Nassau Stakes are among the options for Snow Lantern, her team added.