Frankel set for Cliffs clash

Frankel is on course to take on older horses for the first time in the Qipco Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on July 27.

The unbeaten winner of the 2000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes could be set for a showdown with Queen Anne Stakes victor Canford Cliffs in the mile showpiece.

“The Sussex Stakes seems to be the general idea,” Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, told At The Races.

“He’s come out of the race fine and he’s in good nick, so I think at this moment we’ll be heading there.”

Whether the Henry Cecil-trained star then steps up in trip in the Juddmonte at York in August, over an extended 10 furlongs and sponsored by the owner, has yet to be decided.

“All the decisions as far as the Juddmonte at York go are made hopefully in the best interests of the horse,” Grimthorpe went on.

“Certainly the Sussex looks a possible and realistic target for Frankel.”