Frankel best we’ve seen? Hold your horses

Two quick points — (1) I’m glad there’s a quality race horse out there that was named after Bobby Frankel, one of the three or four greatest trainers I’ve ever seen; (2) the 3-year-old colt Frankel is an outstanding horse. You’d have to be crazy or a member of Congress to believe otherwise.

When the son of Galileo won the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at Goodwood Racecourse in England on Wednesday by five lengths over Canford Cliffs — a horse that has won five Group 1 races and defeated the champion mare Goldikova earlier this year — he demonstrated his greatness and showed, at the moment, he’s the best race horse in Europe.

Heck, we’re talking about a horse that is 8 for 8 and has won his races by a total of about 41 1/2 lengths. He runs the opposition off their feet.

But, let’s not go overboard like his trainer, Sir Henry Cecil, and proclaim him “probably the best you’ve seen.”

Let’s be a little realistic here.

First off, he’s never raced beyond a mile. He’s won five races at eight furlongs and three at seven. No mile and a half. No mile and a quarter. Heck, not even a mile and a sixteenth.

Half of his victories have come in Group 1 races. Yes, that’s impressive, but hardly worthy of the tag Best of All-Time.

Want to convince us he’s the best of all-time?

Stop saying the Breeders’ Cup is probably not in Frankel’s plans in 2011 and send him to Churchill Downs for a dream matchup against Goldikova in the Breeders’ Cup Mile on Nov. 5. The reigning European Horse of the Year has won a record three consecutive Breeders’ Cup Miles. If Frankel could stop that streak, then maybe we’ll consider that Horse of All-Time label.

Until then, Frankel is just an oustanding race horse that has not accomplished anything close to Goldikova’s historic Breeders’ Cup streak.

Now, THAT’S greatness.