In June 2012, following his win in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, Timeform raised its provisional rating to 147, making him the highest-rated horse in the organisation's history.

In January 2013 they announced that their ratings had been recalibrated, since it was believed that in the early years of the scheme horses had been treated more generously than more recently.

As a descendant of the broodmare Circassia, Frankel is from the same branch of Thoroughbred family 1-k which also produced the 2000 Guineas winner Don't Forget Me.

[7] Frankel is bred on the Galileo-Danehill cross, a notable nick that is also apparent in the pedigrees of Group 1 winners Teofilo, Golden Lilac, Roderic O'Connor, Maybe, Intello and Cima De Triomphe.

He led inside the final furlong and ran on to win "readily"[8] by half a length from John Gosden's future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Nathaniel.

The horse accelerated past his opponents and drew away to win by thirteen lengths from subsequent Prix Marcel Boussac third Rainbow Springs in impressive style.

[9] On 25 September, Frankel tackled Group company for the first time in the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot, a race sponsored by his owner Khalid Abdullah.

The race was notable for Frankel's mid-race move around the home turn, and the colt beat subsequent Horris Hill Stakes winner Klammer by 10 lengths.

[12] The runner-up, Roderic O'Connor, subsequently won the Group 1 Critérium International at Saint-Cloud and then the Irish 2,000 Guineas as a three-year-old.

Frankel was then asked by his jockey to go after the leader and passed Rerouted shortly after the three-furlong marker, going on to open up a lead of six lengths on the rest of the field with two furlongs to go.

However, in the final furlong, 20-1 shot Zoffany began to make up significant ground and Frankel eventually only won by three-quarters of a length.

Following the race, Queally received criticism from a number of quarters for what some considered to be an ill-judged ride, since the mid-race move appeared possibly to have taken too much of a toll on the horse.

Despite claims from Cecil and Queally that Frankel was merely idling in front, some observers saw the race as the first time the colt looked less than invulnerable.

Frankel scored a five-length victory over the world's top-rated older miler and five-time consecutive Group 1 winner Canford Cliffs on 27 July at Goodwood.

"[19] During the interview Cecil also said that he had expected the colt to win easily, despite having ample respect for his horse's rival Canford Cliffs.

Despite his reputation, Frankel did not scare off the opposition on 15 October as a strong eight-horse field was declared for Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

In October 2011 Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to Prince Khalid Abdulla, mentioned "the Eclipse and the Juddmonte"[21] as potential targets later in the 2012 season, while it was possible that the horse might contest the Breeders' Cup Mile or Classic at Santa Anita as a final career start.

"[21] Reports surfaced that Frankel had suffered an injury to his off-fore on Wednesday 11 April while working on Racecourse Side in Newmarket.

[25] Before this second scan, rumours sparked by TV reports during coverage of the Grand National at Aintree spread that Frankel had been retired.

He pulled clear of his work companions Bullet Train and Jet Away in the closing stages of the workout[29] in a style which pleased Cecil.

However, Frankel – always ahead of Excelebration in the race – tracked his pacemaker Bullet Train before moving into the lead two furlongs from the finish, pulling clear to win by five lengths.

Timeform responded to the win by raising Frankel's provisional rating to 147, the highest in the organisation's history, two pounds in advance of the 145 recorded in 1965 by Sea-Bird.

[40] Starting at odds of 1/10 against eight rivals, he barely came off the bridle to win easily by seven lengths from Farhh, who was a nose ahead of four-time Group 1 winner St Nicholas Abbey in third.

Indeed, TV footage of the aftermath in the Winners' Enclosure, shows Cecil in genuine awe of his equine protégé, running his hands down the horse's back to demonstrate there was hardly a bead of sweat to be found.

This was his eighth consecutive European Group 1 victory, breaking the previous record of seven in a row set by Rock of Gibraltar.

The ground was more testing than he had faced hitherto, being soft, heavy in places, and the colt's participation had been in doubt until Lord Grimthorpe walked the course on the morning of the race and gave the go ahead.

[46] Corine Barande-Barbe, trainer of Cirrus des Aigles, magnanimously said after the race: "It was a great day and it was like a victory to make Frankel gallop.

His patient, shrewd, empathic management of probably Flat racing's all-time finest animal was achieved amid the ravages of chemotherapy and cancer ... From the 2,000 Guineas onwards, Cecil set about modulating Frankel's zest to get him to settle and use his speed more clinically ...

[54] Frankel's first runner on a racecourse was a bay colt named Cunco who won on his debut in a Newbury maiden on Friday, 13 May 2016.

In December, he had his first winner at the highest level when his daughter Soul Stirring won the Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies.