Frankie Dettori: could be clear to resume race-riding by Friday evening

 PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

Dettori could be cleared to ride by Friday evening

FRANKIE DETTORI’S drawn-out saga to return to the saddle could finally reach a conclusion by Friday evening, with the jockey’s French agent Herve Naggar expecting France Galop to give him clearance to resume race-riding less than 24 hours before the Investec Derby.

Dettori was due to return last week having served a six-month ban for a positive test for cocaine at Longchamp last September. However, with irregularities having surrounded a recent drugs test, France Galop have yet to relicense the former Godolphin stable jockey, with the BHA reciprocating the French racing authority’s decision.

But the end may now be in sight once the results of the rest of a batch of tests return this week.

Naggar said on Tuesday evening: “Christopher Stewart-Moore, Frankie and I met with the medical commission at France Galop today.

“Frankie undertook five tests last week. The first two came back negative and France Galop have accepted Frankie’s explanation for the previous discrepancy.

“They have said they expect to be able to clear him to ride in France by Friday evening, but there is a chance the results will all be back on Thursday.

“Whether it is Thursday or Friday, this is really positive news for Frankie.”

Whether this will derail Dettori’s hopes of riding at Epsom on Saturday remains to be seen.

Declarations for the Investec-backed Classic, in which Dettori is understood to be in line to ride one of Aidan O’Brien’s runners, are made at 10am on Thursday. The BHA would need to give special clearance for any Derby riding arrangement to be made after the Thursday deadline.

Earlier on Tuesday, the BHA press office tweeted: “BHA has contacted France Galop today. We have been informed that they are not in a position to provide any further information at present.

“France Galop have stressed that they will make a communication regarding Frankie Dettori as soon as they are in a position to do so.”

Joyeuse stretching away for an easy debut win

 PICTURE: John Hoy

Picture: Joyeuse will have to be exceptional to match the exploits of her half-brother Frankel, but the juvenile filly made an instant impact on her debut at Lingfield when winning the 6f maiden in style.

Trained by Sir Henry Cecil for Khalid Abdullah, and ridden by Tom Queally, Joyeuse stretched clear by three-and-a-quarter lengths, and racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said: “Any winning filly is nice, but that was great. With a filly like this you are always a bit apprehensive as the weight of expectation is so enormous.

“The great thing is she settled pretty nicely. She had a bit of a look when she came through but then went on to win the race quite comfortably.

“She looked pretty comfortable at this trip and whether Henry would want to step her up to seven furlongs I don’t know. We’ve talked about the Albany, but we’ll have to see how she comes back from this.”

Jockey Tom Queally was also impressed, and added: “I was happy with the way she did it. The ground was on the slow side and better ground would bring out more in her.

“She was green in the preliminaries but she was very professional in the race and went about her business nicely. I’m sure better races lie ahead.”

BetVictor wasted no time in pricing up Joyeuse for the 2014 Qipco 1,000 Guineas, with a quote of 25-1.

fonte: RacingPost