Frankie Dettori No 2

[Guest]

No ride in the Derby or Oaks ....now the number 2 at Godolphin ? Anywhere else to go ?

[Rhinestone Cowboy]

No ride in the Derby or Oaks ....now the number 2 at Godolphin ? Anywhere else to go ?

Strange times JohnC. I am surprised there hasn't been more about it.

Frankie is an absolute legend and hardly finished yet but MB has something of a young Frankie about him. Think I have seen two pieces on it will try and find them and stick them up here .

[Rhinestone Cowboy]

Donn McClean flagged it before Dante

A friend asked me last Thursday morning if I knew why Mickael Barzalona, and not Frankie Dettori, was riding Mandaean in the Dante that afternoon. I thought about it for about 10 seconds before I answered, correctly as it happened. No. No I didn’t.

You explore the possible reasons. Frankie was riding somewhere else? No, he was at York. He rode Sajjhaa in the Middleton Stakes a half an hour before the Dante.

Couldn’t do the weight of 9st? No, he can do 8st 5lb.

He was riding something else in the race? No, he didn’t have a mount in the race. He watched from the weigh room. Or maybe he didn’t watch. Maybe he lay on the bench with a towel over his face and cotton wool in his ears. Who knows? Nor did he have a mount in the Hambleton Stakes, in which Barzalona rode the lone Godolphin runner Bridgefield.

Barzalona has built up a good relationship with Mandaean in his races? Nope, Maxime Guyon had ridden the colt to victory in both his races last season.

Mandaean is trained by Mahmood Al Zarooni, and Dettori rides for the other Godolphin trainer Saeed Bin Suroor? Not so. The Italian rode Artigiano for Al Zarooni in the maiden later on the card, in a race in which Barzalona didn’t ride. Also, the four horses that Dettori rode for Godolphin at York the following day were all trained by Al Zarooni.

So why then? It’s all fairly baffling.

There is no doubt that Barzalona is a hugely talented rider, a really exciting talent, but that isn’t the point. The point is Dettori. Why would you reduce your usage of one of the best practitioners of his profession in the world?

There are no outward signs that Dettori’s enthusiasm for riding or for racing is in any way diminished. On the contrary, when he rode the Marcus Tregoning-trained Estedaama to win the final race on the final day of York’s May meeting – his only non-Godolphin ride of the week, coincidentally – he found it difficult to constrain his enthusiasm, either crossing the line or when led back into the winner’s enclosure.

More importantly, however, there are no signs whatsoever that Dettori’s talent is on the wane. He is still top class. He is still a master tactician. He is still a demon from the front when he is allowed to set his own fractions. He is still very rarely poorly positioned in a race. He is still strong in a finish. He can still galvanise his horses into a finishing surge.

Mandaean-gate wasn’t a one-off either. At Nottingham on Tuesday, Godolphin had two runners. Dettori rode Gold Hunter in the two-year-old maiden, while Barzalona rode Eluding in the 10-furlong fillies’ handicap. Dettori didn’t ride in the fillies’ handicap, and Eluding was Barzalona’s only ride at the meeting. Dettori just had one other ride, Relentless Harry for George Baker in the three-year-old six-furlong handicap. No others for Godolphin.

You can understand why Godolphin want to use several riders. It is not the streamlined operation that concentrated almost exclusively on Pattern races that it once was. You will see the all blue silks at different meetings on the same day these days. In different countries. They need a multiplicity of riders. It is unusual, however, that there is not a given pecking order. You would still say that Dettori is the Godolphin number one, but now you have to say usually, not always.

Perhaps the situation will change as the season develops further. It is way too early to be thinking that Dettori’s best days are behind him.

[Rhinestone Cowboy]

Aussie Jim This week ..

Frankie Dettori out in the cold as Godolphin give Oaks ride to Mickael Barzalona
Frankie Dettori has been left out in the cold in Friday’s Investec Oaks at Epsom.

He has been passed over for the mount on Godolphin’s unbeaten filly Kailani, who is set to be ridden again by Mickael Barzalona.

When Barzalona and Silvestre de Sousa were appointed stable jockeys to the 'royal blues’, it was stressed that Dettori would remain No 1 for Sheikh Mohammed’s global stable. But bookings for Epsom are making a nonsense of that claim.

Barzalona, 20, won last year’s Derby on the Andre Fabre-trained Pour Moi, and has since landed the Dubai World Cup for Godolphin aboard Monterosso. His star is conspicuously in the ascendancy and this engagement is certain to increase tensions internally.

Kailani has won two races, a maiden at Yarmouth in which she was partnered by Dettori and the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket, which she won by seven lengths in the hands of Barzalona. Dettori partnered Godolphin’s Lacily into third in the same race.

Much can be detected from jockey bookings, and the impression left is that trainer Mahmood Al Zarooni prefers the younger Barzalona. This has compromised Dettori, who remains a world-class jockey with wide experience to call upon.

Dettori will now not have a ride in either the Oaks or the Derby as Godolphin do not have an entry in the Derby, for which 12 were confirmed at yesterday’s five-day stage.

[Rhinestone Cowboy]

Just found this one a. Good piece from Greg Wood too..

First it was Lester Piggott, and then it was Frankie Dettori. Tens of thousands of spectators would make their annual trip to Epsom for the Derby, and look for one name on the racecard first. Even though his long wait for a winner in the premier Classic came to an end in 2007, Dettori will always be the starting point for many once-a-year punters on the Downs, since he is by far the most famous Flat jockey in the country.

This year, though, they may search in vain. "I've got nothing in the Derby, nothing in the Oaks and nothing in the Coronation Cup," Dettori said between two losing rides here on Friday. "What's going to be in the Derby? There will be five or six for O'Brien, but I can't ride for him. Thank God I won it once."

If Dettori does watch next Saturday's Investec Derby in the weighing room, it will be the first time he has missed the Classic since 2000, when he was recovering from the plane crash that almost claimed his life. And that year aside, it is 22 seasons since the last time he sat out both the Oaks and the Derby, as he started his Epsom Classic career with second place on Shamshir in the 1991 Oaks.

"Rides in the Derby are very thin on the ground and we're scratching our heads a bit," Ray Cochrane, Dettori's agent said on Friday. "It's a very tight race this year. All the fancied horses are organised with their own jockeys and they're all tied to the stables, so they're not going to be taking their own jocks off to put Frankie on, much as I'd love them to.

"The Oaks is going to be much stronger than the Derby, and Mahmood al-Zarooni has some fillies left in there. We're just hoping that something comes along."

Dettori rode his first Group One winners as a teenager and has been at the top of the sport, in Europe and beyond, ever since. He has won everything worth winning, from the Derby and Arc to the Breeders' Cup Classic. There have been lean spells, of course, as even the greatest jockey cannot avoid those, and it may just be that the 2012 Classic weekend at Epsom will coincide with the latest one. There is plenty of the season left to add to his immense haul of Group One winners.

A difference this year, though, is that Dettori's position as the automatic choice for a runner from the Godolphin operation in a major race no longer seems guaranteed. Kailani, a daughter of Kazzia, who Dettori rode to victory in the 2002 Oaks and 1,000 Guineas, was an impressive winner of the Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket earlier this month and though she is not entered for the Oaks, she could yet be supplemented.

Her jockey last time out, though, was Mickaël Barzalona, last year's Derby-winning jockey and the latest recruit to the Godolphin operation. If Kailani runs, there is no certainty that Barzalona will relinquish the ride to the man who has been Godolphin's No1 since the operation's foundation two decades ago. That much became clear when Barzalona rode Mandaean in the Dante Stakes at York last week, apparently on the expressed wish of Sheikh Mohammed.

Barzalona, who is still just 20 years old, took the Dubai World Cup back in March in the Godolphin colours too. He is 21 years younger than Dettori and is clearly expected to replace him as Godolphin's No1 in due course. Most punters expected it to be later rather than sooner, however, or in another couple of seasons at least. When "the boss" decided that he should ride Godolphin's putative Derby hope Mandaean, Dettori could have been forgiven for wondering if the plans had been accelerated.

Dettori has achieved so much in racing and lived with the pressure for so long that he is used to rolling with the occasional punches. An end to his latest lean spell before Royal Ascot in mid-June would not go amiss, however, as he has rarely taken so long to find his stride in a season.

When he won the last race at York's Dante meeting, an ordinary handicap, on Estedaama, he treated the crowd that remained on the Knavesmire to a flying dismount, such was his relief at getting back among the winners. But that was just his seventh success of the current British campaign.

There have been two more since, yet he still needs a winner from his five rides at York on Saturday to reach double figures for the season. With his book of engagements for Epsom looking bare and Barzalona apparently breathing down his neck, however, Saturday might just be the moment to back the outstanding jockey of the last 20 years to get his season back on track.

Interesting bit in bold. I wonder if Coolmore could get him now if they wanted.

[JohnC]

Thanks...interesting stuff.

[Statto]

Its probably remarkable that he hasn't had more spells like this. Not a chance will Coolmore go for him nor would he go.

[JohnC]

More Frankie

Several trainers taking advantage of Frankie Dettori's surprising availability on Derby Day have given a ringing endorsement of the superstar jockey's talents.

News outlets went into meltdown on Wednesday night amid a false rumour that the 41-year-old was to retire following the decision by Godolphin to choose Mickael Barzalona to ride Kailani in Friday's Investec Oaks.

Apart from when recovering from a plane crash in 2000, this is the first time Dettori has not been at the Derby in 20 years and he will be in action at Haydock Park instead.

Although still the senior jockey at Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin team, racing manager Simon Crisford has stated that Dettori would have to settle for a share of the best rides with Barzalona and Silvestre de Sousa.

On this weekend five years ago, Dettori was enjoying his only victory in the Epsom Classic aboard Peter Chapple-Hyam's Authorized, and he will be teaming up with the Newmarket trainer in a race just 20 minutes before the Derby, the Blue Square Sandy Lane Stakes.

"It's Frankie Dettori," said Chapple-Hyam. "I've read what's going on and I don't understand it. It's nothing to do with me, but he's the best jockey there is.

"If you want a Group One jockey, you go for Frankie. Thankfully he's not retiring, but that would be the sport's loss. He's a living legend."

On his runner in the Listed race, Samminder, the trainer said: "He has run well already this season and the drying ground will help so he goes there with every chance."

As well as representing Godolphin trainer Saeed Bin Suroor, Dettori has picked up mounts for Brian Meehan and David O'Meara and teams up with an old ally, Jamie Osborne's Never Can Tell, in the Bet At bluesquare.com Stakes.

He produced a brilliant solo effort to take the mare down the centre of the track and make all of the running in last year's Cesarewitch.

"I can't understand why anyone wouldn't use the best rider in racing," said Osborne.

"Why wouldn't you want to use him? It defies all logic in my opinion. If you look how many years he's been doing it, he's still just as good as ever, if not better."

Dettori helped Never Can Tell to finish eighth on her reappearance in the Chester Cup and the trainer said: "We took the risk in running her on that soft ground at Chester and it didn't work. A sounder surface will suit."

[Forced Kin]

Back in the big time now ...

[Rhinestone Cowboy]

Its probably remarkable that he hasn't had more spells like this. Not a chance will Coolmore go for him nor would he go.

You were saying statto. The Donn

Well, what would you have done if you had been in Frankie Dettori’s (riding) boots? Would you have said, no thanks Aidan, I think I’ll watch the Arc on the television in the weigh room instead?

Here are some points that you might have pondered:

· Frankie Dettori rides for Godolphin, Sheikh Mohammed’s operation. When you think of Frankie Dettori, you think of him clad in Godolphin blue. However, the Godolphin landscape has been shifting of late with the introduction of Mahmood Al Zarooni to join Saeed Bin Suroor as a Godolphin trainer, and the introduction of Mickael Barzalona and Silvestre de Sousa as Godolphin riders. Pecking orders have become blurred.

· When Kailani was Godolphin’s sole representative in the Oaks, Mickael Barzalona rode her. Frankie Dettori, with all his Epsom Derby and Epsom Oaks experience, watched the race from the Epsom weigh room.

· When another Godolphin filly, next year’s 1000 Guineas favourite Certify, won the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket last Friday, the 4/6 favourite, Mickael Barzalona rode her. Dettori rode the third-placed filly in the race, the 10/1 shot Amazonas, owned by Robert Ogden and trained by Ed Dunlop.

· When Encke won the St Leger, famously denying Camelot his Triple Crown, the Seamus Darby of the 2012 flat season, providing Godolphin with their sixth win in the race and Mahmood Al Zarooni with his first, Mickael Barzalona was on board. Frankie rode Michelangelo for John Gosden to finish third.

· Mickael Barzalona has ridden 27 winners from 146 rides for Mahmood Al Zarooni in Britain this year.

· Frankie Dettori has ridden just nine winners from 60 rides for Mahmood Al Zarooni in Britain this year.

· Things have changed significantly even since last year, when Dettori rode 32 winners from 119 rides for Al Zarooni.

· The tried and tested pecking-order formula when Godolphin have multiple entries in a race can be thrown out the window. Gone are the days when you knew that Dettori would be under the blue cap and on the Godolphin number one. He may be under the blue cap these days all right more often than not but, especially if Al Zarooni is involved as opposed to Saeed Bin Suroor, you can’t be certain that Dettori’s horse will be the shortest Godolphin horse in the market.

· Seven years have passed under the bridge since Dettori rode Scorpion to win the St Leger for Aidan O’Brien, and apologised to Sheikh Mohammed afterwards for so doing. Seven years’ worth of water is a lot of water.

· Mickael Barzalona rode the Godolphin-owned, Andre Fabre-trained, Masterstroke to victory in the Grand Prix de Deauville, and he was always going to ride him in Sunday’s Arc.

So, when Aidan O’Brien offers you the ride on Camelot, the Guineas winner, the Derby winner, the Arc favourite, in the most prestigious and most valuable race on the European racing calendar, do you politely shake your head and say that you think it would be best if you didn’t take the ride, or do you grab his arm with both your hands and say brilliant, thanks, I’m honoured?

Thought so.

[mayo]

Didnt work out today but interesting stuff from Pat Keane..

Open warfare has long been the norm between the Sheikh and Coolmore, although there has been some softening in the relationship of late.

Does the fact that Dettori will now ride Camelot in the ‘Arc indicate a further softening, or is there more to it than that? For much of his career Dettori has been the blue-eyed boy as far as Sheikh Mohammed and Godolphin were concerned, but that certainly appears to be no longer the situation.

Dettori remains a vital part of the team, but the emergence of Mickael Barzalona has seen Dettori play a less prominent role.

It cannot sit well with Dettori and is hard to understand. All the available evidence indicates the Italian remains as good as he has ever been and one only had to watch his masterful display on Snow Fairy in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown recently to very much realise that is the case.

Godolphin has been struggling for years to match the power of Coolmore and, as a result, Dettori has found it increasingly difficult to get on the best horses.

This season, for instance, outside of Snow Fairy’s success at Leopardstown, he has managed only one other major win and that was on Colour Vision in the Ascot Gold Cup.

Godolpin produced the largely unheralded Encke to beat Camelot in the St Leger at Doncaster last month, but Barzalona was in the plate.

Dettori had to be satisfied with a rear view of the big two, partnering John Gosden’s Michelangelo to finish third.

On December 15, Dettori will celebrate his 42nd birthday, by no means old for a flat jockey. He has a lot of life left in him, but surely won’t want to end his career scrapping with Barzalona, and also Silvestre de Sousa, for rides from Godolphin.

And that’s why we must ask is there more to this booking than just a once-off arrangement between Dettori and Ballydoyle?

I am reliably informed that one major Ballydoyle-Coolmore player is in favour of approaching Dettori to ride as their number one next season.

Joseph O’Brien has essentially done a good job this campaign, there is simply no arguing with that. But he remains a work in progress, continues to be dogged by weight problems and they are not going to get any better.

The fact that both Seamie Heffernan and Colm O’Donoghue have been overlooked for Camelot at Longchamp tells us all we need to know about their standing at Ballydoyle.

They are clearly highly regarded, and have been entrusted with many high profile rides in the past, but are never going to get the number one job.

Ballydoyle has nearly always employed a jockey with the X-Factor — Kinane, Murtagh and Fallon. Dettori would, of course, be the ultimate appointment.

It would be the perfect end to his career and surely offer him a number of chances to add to his sole Epsom Derby win on Authorized.

Travelling back and forth from Britain would not be a problem, the likes of Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty have shown how that can work perfectly satisfactorily.

Back to whether Camelot can actually win this ‘Arc or not. The booking of Dettori is obviously a massive plus. He has a fantastic temperament, is a quite brilliant jockey and rarely if ever gets it wrong on the big day. I believe, for a good while now, there was no doubt about Camelot turning up for this race and those who know what’s going on at Ballydoyle started backing the horse as far back as last Sunday.

If Dettori can guide Camelot to victory then it will be a huge story and strengthen the hand of the Ballydoyle insider who is anxious that he should ride for them on a permanent basis.

But that is for another day. Camelot will face a much easier task than was initially envisaged, but if delivering will still go a long way towards justifying the hype that has surrounded him from the first day he set foot on a racecourse.

It will be terrific for Irish racing, and especially for Aidan O’Brien, if it happens. Good luck to all concerned, but those of us who live and die by the form book remain unconvinced.

[flatman]

Frankie Dettori – champion jockey, 1994, 1995, 2004 and 2013 ? I’m not saying ‘yes’, and I’m not saying ‘no’!

Once news broke of my split with Godolphin, the speculation naturally began about my future – everything from retirement to champion jockey.

Well, the first option is a long way wide of the mark – I’m 41, so I’m still at my peak in terms of a Flat jockey’s career.

I’ve looked after myself and I feel I’m riding as well as ever – if what you read in the press is any guide, then there are plenty of others that feel the same way.

But can I really win a fourth championship, nine years on from my last title? We’ll have to wait and see.

The first thing to say is that a good start is vital. Richard Hughes, who will win this year’s championship, had a 50-day ban at the start of the Flat season, but he caught up very quickly in the spring.

The fact is, you don’t see to many jockeys finish strongly from nowhere to win the crown, because it’s much harder to ride winners in the last six weeks of the season, when there are few meetings and the fields are bigger, than it is earlier on.

So – it’s the boring answer but it’s also the truthful one – we’ll have to wait and see.

But I can promise you this – I’ve spoken to my agent, Ray Cochrane, and he’s certainly up for the challenge.

Speaking for myself, I’ve never been this hungry to succeed as I go it alone as I am free to ride for anybody – in Britain or in Ireland.

We’re entering a brave new world – after 18 years with Godolphin, where everything is done for you, we are now rowing our own boat – but if we get to the St Leger and I’m up there on the leaderboard, it would be very difficult for me not to go for it over the last eight weeks of the season.

Looking back to last weekend, I’ve been asked why I didn’t reveal the split from Godolphin in my Mirror column last week.

Of course, both parties had agreed on what was happening by then, but there was the small matter of QIPCO British Champions Day last Saturday.

We didn’t want to spoil what was obviously going to be a big day for British racing by publishing a big story on Saturday morning.

British Champions Day is all about racing.

No matter what anybody says, if the split had been in the public domain on Saturday, reporters and news crews would have been after me and Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford, rather than concentrating on Frankel.

So I’m sorry you read about it on Monday rather than Saturday, but we genuinely felt it was the right thing to do, and I’m sure everybody connected with British Champions Day would back that up.

It’s only right that my last word on the subject should be about Sheikh Mohammed and my last 18 years with Godolphin.

As I said in the Mirror on Monday, there has been no big fall-out that has led to the parting of the ways.

Sheikh Mohammed has been an amazing boss, who put his faith in me when I was a young man.

Along with my dad, he’s been the biggest influence on me, and I wish him and all my friends at Godolphin the best for the future.

But all things come to an end, and my position within the team changed during the past year.

That means a new challenge – and I can’t wait!

[flatman]

"Positive test": Frankie Dettori to face inquiry after failing drug test
13 Nov 2012 15:18


Veteran jockey issues statement through his legal representatives following failed test at Longchamp in September


Three-time champion jockey Frankie Dettori will face a France Galop inquiry next week after his legal representative revealed the rider registering a "positive test" result at Longchamp in September.

Dettori's solicitor Christopher Stewart-Moore released a statement announcing the Medical Committee of the French authority are planning to hold a hearing.

The statement, issued to Press Association Sport, said: "On behalf of Frankie Dettori I can confirm that, as a consequence of a positive test at Longchamp on September 16 2012, he will be the subject of an inquiry by the Medical Committee of France Galop next week.

"In compliance with, and out of respect for, the regulations of France Galop, he will not be commenting further until the France Galop procedures have been completed."

[flatman]

Bill Esdaile @BillEsdaile

It's unclear whether Frankie's failed test after the Moulin was for alcohol or another substance #moulinrouge?

[Yeehaa]

Paul Eacott @pauleacottrp

@roryjiwani @Pompey_Dave @BrettPresents "he is expected to be handed a mandatory six-month suspension." Really? Where did you see that?
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Rory Jiwani @roryjiwani

@pauleacottrp @Pompey_Dave @BrettPresents It was on the Racing Post website. Maybe it's been removed.
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