Frankel - the horse. Speaker Gordon MacKenzie

On the evening of 26^th February Gordon MacKenzie treated members to a talk on Frankel, The Wonder Horse. Frankel was sired by Galileo, a Derby winner, so he had a good pedigree.  A winner of 14 flat races, he was a sprinter and never did move to the slightly longer distances involved with the Derby and Arc. However, his trainer Sir Henry Cecil rated him the greatest and fastest horse he had ever seen. His owner Kalid bin Abdullah was the recipient of over £3 million in race winnings. An estimated crowd of 32 000 watched his last race and he was thereafter put to stud, fetching fees ranging from initially £125000, to an estimated £35000 today. He has now many successful offspring. Alex Ferguson has just won this week in Dubai with one such horse, Spirit Dancer. Gordon has always had an interest in horse racing and little wonder with four horse vets in the family. President Isobel Clifford introduced Gordon, and Hugh Elliott gave a vote of thanks for an entertaining and for many, an eye opening talk.