8/3/12 - The prospect of seeing Frankel, the world’s greatest racehorse – and possibly the best thoroughbred of all-time – go through his paces in one of the feature races of the year looks set to attract one of the biggest crowds to York’s Knavesmire since the place was packed to the rafters for the hanging of legendary highwayman Dick Turpin back in 1739.

Whilst the ill-fated Turpin’s trusty steed Black Bess made quite a name for herself all those years ago, her fame pales into insignificance next to the mighty Frankel who is unbeaten in all 12 career starts and appears to be getting better and better with every run – much to the bewilderment of the York Ebor betting community.

The media attention surrounding the Sir Henry Cecil-trained colt has taken horse racing from the back pages to the front pages of the tabloids for all the right reasons, and his presence at the high profile Ebor Festival seems certain to put many thousands of race-goers on the gate at the outstanding northern racecourse.

Sent off at the almost unbackable horse racing betting odds of 1/20 when hacking up in the Group 1 Qipco Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood earlier this month, the son of super-sire Galileo is quoted a 1/4 chance to successfully step up to 10 furlongs for the first time in his career in the Juddmonte International Stakes, a race with a rich history that has been known to produce one or two shock results over the years.

It is 40 years since the outstanding Brigadier Gerard came to York for the very same race unbeaten in 15 outings, but he suffered his one and only loss when, sent off a 1/3 market leader, he was beaten three-lengths by the previous year’s Derby winner Roberto, a race that is still remembered as one of the most sensational shocks in the sport.

Could history possibly repeat itself as Frankel goes up in trip? All will be revealed at York on August 22.