3 minute read
In a perfect world it would have happened on Enable at Longchamp 13 days earlier, but Frankie Dettori did not have long to wait for his 250th Group 1 winner
Star Catcher, on whom he has also won an Irish Oaks and a Prix Vermeille, was not a bad substitute.
Just 35 minutes after coming off second best to Donnacha O'Brien and the Aidan O'Brien-trained Kew Gardens on Stradivarius, the boot was on the other foot as Dettori got the better of another great battle by a short head as Star Catcher (7/4 favourite) beat Delphinia (20/1Seamie Heffernan) in the £550,000 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares.
He said: "Star Catcher has never stopped improving but once Delphinia couldn't get away from her she found her second wind and managed to get her head in front in the last 100 yards. It was hard work in the straight but the last shower made a big difference as it's borderline heavy, and she doesn't mind it.
"I am still a bit sour about Stradivarius, but the ground is a lot worse than we thought. I am pleased this filly won. Like you said, from crying to smiling in half an hour! She's lovely, she's tough, and I think she is going to stay in training. She is a wonderful filly and provided me with my 250th G1. I love her."
Star Catcher was Dettori's 17th Group 1 winner in a stellar year.
Frankie Dettori
Born: December 15, 1970, Milan, Italy.
Background: the son of Gianfranco, 13-time champion jockey in Italy. Frankie (christened Lanfranco) Dettori arrived from his homeland to join Luca Cumani's Newmarket yard as an apprentice in July, 1985. His first success came on Rif at Turin, Italy, on November 16, 1986, and he rode his first British winner on Lizzy Hare at Goodwood on June 9, 1987.
He passed 100 winners for the first time in 1990 when recording 141 successes and created history when riding all seven winners on the Saturday at the Ascot Festival in September, 1996. Dettori survived a horrific plane crash at Newmarket in 2000 in which the pilot was killed. He was retained by Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation in 1993, but it was announced in September, 2012, that the retainer would not be renewed.
It was subsequently revealed he had failed a drugs test whilst riding in France. On December 5, 2012, Dettori was suspended from riding for six months after being found guilty of taking a prohibited substance, believed to be cocaine. He returned from his ban at the 2013 Investec Derby Festival and spent five years as a retained rider for Sheikh Joaan Al Thani, but now rides mainly for Newmarket trainer John Gosden and has had a lot of success thanks to that partnership.
He is married to Catherine and they have five children. His best total of British winners - 233 - came in 1994 and he has ridden approaching 3,200 winners in Britain.
He has enjoyed seven Epsom Downs Classic winners. It took him 15 attempts before Authorized gave him a first Investec Derby victory in 2007 and his second win in Golden Horn on 2015, while Anapurna was his fifth Investec Oaks success. He is the fifth-most winning jockey in Britain by numbers behind Sir Gordon Richards, Pat Eddery, Lester Piggott and Willie Carson. He is enjoying a most amazing 2019, with 17 G1 wins since the end of May.
Accolades: British champion apprentice in 1989 and champion jockey three times (1994, 1995 and 2004). Awarded an honorary MBE in December, 2000. He is the most successful current jockey at Royal Ascot with 67 successes, including a week-topping seven this year. He has been crowned the world's best jockey in both 2018 and 2015.
British Classic Wins (19): QIPCO 2,000 Guineas (1996 Mark Of Esteem, 1999 Island Sands, 2016 Galileo Gold), QIPCO 1,000 Guineas (1998 Cape Verdi, 2002 Kazzia, 2011 Blue Bunting), Investec Derby (2007 Authorized, 2015 Golden Horn), Investec Oaks (1994 Balanchine, 1995 Moonshell, 2002 Kazzia, 2017 Enable, 2019 Anapurna), St Leger (1995 Classic Cliché, 1996 Shantou, 2005 Scorpion, 2006 Sixties Icon, 2008 Conduit, 2019 Logician).
