Frankie Dettori blew the start and left himself with just a little too much ground to make up at the finish, but in every other respect he ran the big race he was hoping for at his final Royal Ascot. A ninth Gold Cup, on a 17-2 shot that would have been twice the price with anyone bar Dettori on board, was the obvious highlight but, once he had got a winner under his belt in the 13th of the 35 races, there was a sudden sense that Ryan Moore, who had a treble on Tuesday, was looking over his shoulder as his lead in the jockeys’ standings diminished by the day.
Moore got his lead back to two in the final race, the Queen Alexandra Stakes, and was, in numerical terms at least, clearly the rider of the week. Oisin Murphy, meanwhile, arguably deserves the accolade of ride of the week for getting Shaquille over the line in the Commonwealth Cup after losing five lengths at the start, although Jamie Spencer’s inimitable hold‑up ride on the quirky Khaadem in the feature race on Saturday is also in the conversation.
But Dettori, as so often, was the only rider at centre stage from the first day to the last, and not simply because we all knew that it was the last chance to see him at the biggest meeting of the year, and at the course he has made his own. The early manoeuvre on Tuesday which earned him a nine-day ban – currently subject to appeal – was unwelcome, but from Newmarket to Ascot via Epsom, Dettori has been riding as well as ever, and competing as fiercely as always too. Not only has he not lost it, he does not appear to be in the process of losing it. So why, exactly, has he decided to go now?
It is always possible, of course, that Dettori will have second thoughts, but every misty-eyed farewell along the well-worn path through the Flat season makes it ever more unlikely. He seems as certain of his decision now, if not more so, as he was in December, when he revealed that 2023 would be his final year in the saddle.
“It is a very difficult decision because my heart wants to carry on riding,” he told ITV Racing at the time, “but I have had to use my brain and I’ve just turned 52, and next year I’ll be 53.
“I want to be competitive enough to do my owners and my horses justice next year and I think I’m still in that bracket of being good. Look at [Cristiano] Ronaldo. One day he was playing and he’s on the bench the next. I don’t want to end up like that and end up where I’m struggling to get rides in the big races.”
His words feel as relevant now as they did at the time, and it is worth recalling, too, that Dettori has already endured one extended “benching”, albeit as a result of his own actions.
It is now 10 years since he returned to race action in June 2013 after a six-month ban for a cocaine positive while riding in France in September 2012. In the subsequent decade, Dettori has added almost 100 Group One or Grade One wins to his record, at much the same rate that he enjoyed during his 18 years as No 1 rider to the Godolphin operation, including a second Derby, three Arcs and four races at the Breeders’ Cup.
Beverley 1.45 Tantalus 2.15 Shadan Joy 2.45 Satin Snake 3.15 Kiaraad 3.45 Tiberio Force 4.15 Bobby’s Blessing (nb) 4.45 Brabusach 5.20 Lincoln Rockstar
Brighton 2.00 Rivas Rob Roy 2.30 Another Dimension 3.00 Let Her Loose 3.30 Eton Blue 4.00 Sir Winston 4.30 Bear To Dream 5.00 Rhythmic Acclaim (nap)
Newton Abbot 5.15 Professor Calculus 5.50 Max Of Stars 6.20 Midnight Jewel 7.00 Sassified 7.30 Nickelsonthedime 8.05 Songo 8.40 Junior Massini
Newbury 5.30 Mrembo 6.05 Delicacy 6.40 Lady Of Leisure 7.15 Splendent 7.50 Puffable 8.25 Starlight Nation 9.00 Hurt You Never
The first few months after his return, however, were hardly the smoothest of rides. He won just one Group One in 2013, on Trêve in the Prix Vermeille, then missed the winning ride aboard Criquette Head-Maarek’s filly in the Arc after breaking his ankle in a fall at Nottingham a few days before the race. Twelve months later, he suffered the embarrassment of being “jocked off” Trêve before her Arc trial in the Vermeille, at the insistence of Head-Maarek.
The renewal of Dettori’s association with the John Gosden stable in Newmarket in the spring of 2015 was the turning point, sealed by Golden Horn’s glorious summer with victories in the Derby and the Arc.
Worcester 1.58 Swapped 2.28 Elios D’Or 2.58 Lord Bryan 3.28 Achtung Baby 3.58 Elusive Enemy 4.28 Merry Berry 5.03 Sufi
Salisbury 2.10 Jubilee Walk 2.40 Grandfather Tom 3.10 Equity Law 3.40 Skysail 4.10 Spectacular Style 4.40 Krona 5.10 Goodwood Vision
Carlisle 2.20 All Is Fair 2.50 Ajwadi 3.20 Intercessor 3.50 United Front 4.20 Dream Harder 4.50 Vetiver 5.20 Iris Dancer (nb)
Kempton 5.15 Boom Boom Pow 5.50 Vinaka 6.20 Beauty Generation 6.50 Primetime 7.20 Lisboa 7.50 Molly Valentine 8.20 Silastar (nap) 8.50 Sociologist
Bath 5.40 Book Of Tales 6.10 Invincible Tiger 6.40 Talamanca 7.10 Connie’s Rose 7.40 Fact Or Fable 8.10 War Chant 8.40 Galactic Glow
But, for several months at least, Dettori had been peering into a very uncertain future, and the memory of that nagging fear that racing may be starting to move on without him is unlikely to have left him entirely. Nor is it one he would ever care to revisit.
Getting out at the right moment and on your own terms is the trickiest part of any great sporting career. Announcing a year-long farewell tour beforehand could have made it more difficult still but, so far at least, Dettori seems to be executing his plan with the same skill and confidence that have been the hallmark of his 35 years in the saddle.
