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RACING | DAVID WALSH

Coolmore Stud will always lament Frankel – the one that got away

It would have been a different story had Frankel — the greatest European racehorse turned superstud — been born a year earlier or later

The Sunday Times

Watching Flat racing’s first classic of the season, the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket last weekend, I was struck by the randomness of things. There were 14 horses in the race, one was a son of the greatest European racehorse Frankel, and though not the favourite, Frankel’s son Chaldean was too good for the others. That would have made Rob Bowley smile.

Bowley lives and works at Banstead Manor Stud, a few miles out of Newmarket. On a nice day he will take a piece of timber, his penknife, a burner to boil water, a couple of tea bags, a mug and a fold-up chair. At his favourite spot, in the midst of trees, he will whittle away while drinking tea. A spoon, a spatula, or