Frankel has matured - Cecil

Henry Cecil has given Frankel supporters the news they would want to hear by providing a positive report on the 2000 Guineas favourite's progress over the winter.

Cecil confirmed the Greenham Stakes at Newbury on April 16 will be the date of the colt's reappearance.

Of interest was the fact the vastly experienced trainer believes Frankel has shed some of his headstrong tendencies.

Frankel showed extraordinary ability in winning his four starts at two, with the often reticent Cecil revealing on several occasions that he believed he was as exciting a juvenile as he had ever trained.

"I think last year he was immature in a lot of ways and was inclined to be a bit free in his work and when he ran," Cecil said.

"He's grown and lengthened and he settles. Mentally he has matured, he's much more settled and relaxed.

"I worked him on Wednesday to get him ready for his trial in the middle of April.

"He was lovely and relaxed. When I asked him to go away he was lolloping along and not taking hold of his bridle as he was inclined to do last year.

"I'm delighted with him."

Explaining the idea of the Greenham, he continued: "I don't trust myself in running a horse in one of the first Classics without a race.

"A race will bring them on and give them something to think about. It's a prep-race for a long and important year.

"If you run them straight into the Guineas after a long winter you have got to do a little bit more with them at home, you've got to be a little bit tougher with them.

"They've got to be right, you can feel you go quietly into the trial, ready for a race, but the adrenaline of being on a racecourse will do them more good.

"I'm still educating him, and he wouldn't have a penalty in the Greenham, whereas he does in the Craven."

Frankel is also favourite for the Investec Derby at Epsom, but Cecil reiterated: "I think at the moment it is a question of how far he stays.

"There is lots of speed on the dam's side. I can, now he's maturing, see him getting a mile and a quarter.

"Whether he will get a mile and a half, he will tell us.

"I'm not going to train him for a Derby if he's not going to stay otherwise you're missing the boat, you've got mile races like the St James's Palace to go for.

"We'll see what he does in his first two races and assess it. If he looks as if he's going to stay, we could let him go for a Dante Stakes, and you could still bring him back to a mile if you had to.

"I'll leave it open. I go with my horses and they'll tell me what to do."