Frankel
The Greatest Racehorse of All Time and the Sport That Made Him
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Frankel
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Narrated by:
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Rupert Bush
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By:
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Simon Cooper
About this listen
In horse racing greatness is defined by speed. Being the second fastest counts for little. You have to win. And win. And keep winning until every challenger of your generation is put to the sword. Of the twelve horses lined up on Newmarket Heath that 2011 day, one would do just that. And more. To become the greatest racehorse that has ever lived.
Frankel was born on 11 February 2008, with four white socks and a blaze, from impressive equine lines on both his parents’ sides. Simon Cooper revisits the whole of the horse’s life, giving readers an inside tour of the calm oasis that is life a stud farm, where a foal will live with his mother for the first year of his life. Next, the atmosphere of heady possibility that marks the early days of training. Roadwork. Gallops. Trials. Turning raw potential into something more. Frankel begins to set himself apart.
A detailed and fast-paced narrative breathlessly recounts the racing career of the horse who, by his retirement to stud at the age of 4, would be rated the greatest of all time. Cooper weaves the horse’s tale with those of his trainer, battling cancer, the stablehands who coped with his explosive nature, the work rider who tamed him, the the jockey who rode in all fourteen of his races, and the owner who saw his potential from the very beginning. The result is a rich and multifaceted tale of modern horse racing, the lives of everyone involved, human and equine, and the unadulterated glory of winning. And winning everything.
©2020 Simon Cooper (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
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5 out of 5 stars
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved It - But It Is Not Just About A Super Horse
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When Chris McDougall agreed to take in a donkey from an animal hoarder, he thought it would be no harder than the rest of the adjustments he and his family had made after moving from Philadelphia to the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country. But when he arrived, Sherman was in such bad shape he could barely move, and his hair was coming out in clumps. Chris decided to undertake a radical rehabilitation program designed not only to heal Sherman's body but to heal his mind as well - and so Chris decided to teach Sherman how to run.
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5 out of 5 stars
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amazing story
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Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Critic reviews
"Cooper paints a complete picture of Frankel, charting his meteoric rise from the first years of his life through to his glorious send-off when winning the Champion Stakes at Ascot...transporting the reader with his vivid descriptions.... While he is undoubtedly the star of the show, this book is about so much more than just Frankel.... Thanks to Cooper, and his dedication to colouring the blanks in this famous story, we can now know Frankel a little better too." (Racing Post)
"Simon Cooper does a sterling job...a wry, amiable guide, Cooper takes intriguing tangents aplenty...his real skill, though, lies in detailing Frankel's day-to-day life." (i Newspaper)
What listeners say about Frankel
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bloo
- 07-28-22
Ch 17 missing
The editor and producer of this audiobook have explaining to do, as ch 17 cuts off at :56 in the middle of the sentence
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