Owners and trainers want the Italian on their horses but backers still remember his wretched time at last year’s meeting The announcement on Sunday that Desert Crown, last year’s Derby winner, would miss the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot next week after suffering a “minor setback” was a considerable disappointment for all concerned, not least since it arrived just 48 hours after his surge to clear favouritism for the showpiece event on Wednesday’s card following the news that Frankie Dettori had been booked for the ride.Since we only have the bookies’ word for it, it is, of course, entirely possible that the “gamble” on Desert Crown in the latter part of last week was more of a defensive...
Charlie Johnston’s colt showed enough at Newmarket last month to suggest he is worth backing in an open fieldThere is an old theory in racing that the best trial of all for the Derby is the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, and while many betting maxims are little more than a fast-track to destitution, 2023 could be a year when this one at least has some substance.The traditional trials, at Chester, Leopardstown, York and Lingfield, have failed to identify an outstanding candidate. Continue reading...
Veteran jockey in positive mood after riding his ‘big horse’ around Tattenham Corner without a second thought“It’s a lot of lasts,” Frankie Dettori said at Epsom on Monday morning, shortly after giving Arrest, his final Derby ride, a spin around Tattenham Corner before the Classic on Saturday week. “I went to Rome yesterday for my last Derby there. I saw the vice-prime minister and he gave me a plaque to congratulate me on my career, now it’s my last Derby and with a live chance, so good.”Dettori will be hoping for rather more than a plaque when he climbs aboard Arrest at around 1.15pm on 3 June, as the Chester Vase winner is one of nearly a dozen horses currently...
The selection’s defeat of Royal Scotsman in the Dewhurst in October is as strong as any form on offer for the first ClassicIf nothing else, the fact that the normally ultra-cautious Aidan O’Brien was happy to discuss Auguste Rodin as a potential Triple Crown prospect earlier this week suggests that the son of Deep Impact is his No 1 contender for next month’s Derby at Epsom by some distance.Whether he has the speed to beat the specialist milers in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday, however, is another question entirely, as O’Brien also acknowledged. Continue reading...
The greatest jockey of all time debate is best left until he leaves the stage but the Italian must be part of the discussionThe best-laid plans, as racing people know only too well, can often go awry, but Frankie Dettori’s decision to set out an 11-month schedule for his farewell tour next year should mean that he will be appearing at a racecourse near you at least one more time before he finally hangs up his boots. It has been one of the greatest riding careers of them all, and we may never see another jockey with Dettori’s unique combination of gifts, both in and out of the saddle, which made him a household name.Many smaller tracks will be hoping...