Frankel produced a scarcely believable performance to get Royal Ascot off to a brilliant start in the Queen Anne Stakes today.

Sir Henry Cecil's prized asset lined up defending a perfect record and having looked better than ever on his seasonal reappearance in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury, he was sent off an incredible 1-10 favourite.

Settled behind his pacemaker and three-parts brother Bullet Train for the first half of the one-mile contest, the four-year-old swept to the lead passing the three-furlong marker with jockey Tom Queally still pulling double.

Old rival Excelebration did his best to stay with the world's highest-rated racehorse, but he had no answer when Frankel engaged overdrive.

The Galileo colt came home with a full 11 lengths in hand over Excelebration, who was suffering defeat for the fifth time at the hands of this superb horse.

Aidan O'Brien's Excelebration almost paid the price for trying to take on Frankel too, as he tired in the final furlong but managed to hold off Side Glance by a neck to claim the runner-up spot.

Cecil said: "It's relief, I'm not surprised but relieved.

"There's no such thing as a certainty. He is a great horse and you've seen him for yourself so everybody can form their own opinion.

"He did exactly what I thought but he's still improving, Tom said he' still improving. He looks as if he'll stay a mile and a quarter so we'll leave our options open.

"He's in the Eclipse, he's in the Sussex, he's in the Juddmonte and the two races at the end of the year. He'll tell me what to do next, I don't tell him.

"It's very unlikely he'll go to the Breeders' Cup."

Queally said: "It was basically what everyone expected, so it's great that he did it.

"It looks like he's improving. He settled, he travelled, he got everything else off the bridle when I was still sitting there - he's amazing.

"That's his best performance. He ticked all the boxes, he did everything right. From my point of view he's been flawless in the past but I couldn't have asked for anything more.

"He had the perfect prep for it, Henry had no complications and we were able to do it nicely."

O'Brien said of the runner-up: "We were delighted with our horse but Frankel is unbelievable. We'll look at the entries we've made, see how he is and then have a talk about it."

Andrew Balding added of Side Glance: "I'm very pleased with our horse, but I hope Frankel steps up in distance later in the season and if he does we'll come back here for QEII."