Talking Horses: will Frankie Dettori ever win a Melbourne Cup?


The Italian jockey is now 0-17 in ‘the race that stops a nation’ and came away with a ban for the second time in five years

Frankie Dettori came heartbreakingly close to a first success in the Melbourne Cup but, instead of lifting the trophy, he ended his day with a dressing-down from the stewards, who demoted his mount from second place to fourth. The veteran jockey delivered a fine ride aboard the 25-1 shot Master Of Reality and they briefly seemed to have pinched the £2m prize. Instead, they were collared in the last two strides by Vow And Declare, and then ruled to have interfered with the fast-finishing Il Paridiso, fourth past the post.

“I want to cry,” Dettori muttered, shortly after dismounting, removing any doubt that victory in Australia’s “race that stops a nation” is near the top of his wish-list. He has, after all, won nearly every other high-profile race in world racing, from the Derby to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Japan Cup.

Related: Vow And Declare triumphs in Melbourne Cup as Dettori is punished

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