Frankel factor: York’s greatest ever race day

“I don’t expect there’ll be another day like this, every day on this horse is special,” he said.

The 30,000 crowd – up 10,000 on 12 months ago – paid homage to the seven-length winner and his trainer Sir Henry Cecil, who is battling cancer.

The ovation for Frankel, Queally and Cecil, still elegant in a black Panama despite his frail health, even eclipsed the drama of the Juddmonte International in which the champion produced an electrifying burst of speed at the two furlong post before winning by seven lengths.

Cecil, who has a stud near Helmsley, said, in a hushed voice, he was determined not to miss Frankel’s 13th consecutive win.

“That was great, wasn’t it?” he said as the rapturous crowd bellowed out “three cheers” for Sir Henry.

“It’s fantastic. It’s great for Yorkshire, they are very supportive of racing and they deserve to see him.”

Asked how it made him feel, the legendary trainer said: “Twenty years better.”

The unprecedented numbers attending day one of the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival prompted massive tailbacks on the A64 and other routes yesterday. Even side roads used by participating jockeys were slow-moving.

Council officials admitted the “sheer volume” of traffic was unexpected but Richard Wood, assistant director of Strategic Planning and Transport, added: “In situations like this we do monitor traffic and make every effort to ease congestion if we can.”

The authority is urging visitors to make use of the city’s park and ride facilities to ease congestion.