Frankie Dettori: 3,000 reasons to celebrate on Friday night
PICTURE: Getty Images
Fantastic Frankie rides 3,000th British winner
Arguably the most recognisable Flat jockey on the planet, Dettori joins an illustrious list that before Friday night comprised Sir Gordon Richards, Pat Eddery, Lester Piggott, Willie Carson and Doug Smith on the Flat and Sir Anthony McCoy and Richard Johnson over jumps, to have won 3,000 races in Britain.
A rollercoaster career spanning three decades took flight when Dettori rode his first winner in Britain as a 16-year-old aboard Lizzy Hare at Goodwood in 1987 and has included top-level success all over the globe, including two cherished victories in the Derby.
His 3,000th winner leaves him some distance behind the winning-most rider in Britain, Sir Gordon Richards, with 4,870 winners, however he is now just 111 behind Doug Smith who rode 3,111 winners between 1932 and 1967 on the level.
Brilliant comeback
Dettori’s feat looked unlikely in September 2012, as an acrimonious split from Godolphin after 18 successful years as lead jockey to Sheikh Mohammed’s Dubai-based operation, followed by a six-month ban after testing positive for cocaine, left his career on the ropes.
However, a determined Dettori returned to rebuild his career in May 2013 and was rejuvenated by a new agreement with powerful Qatar-based owners Al Shaqab Racing in July of the same year.
Two years later and riding the crest of a wave, Dettori completed the ultimate return to the top when winning the Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2015 on the John Gosden-trained champion Golden Horn.
His 3,000th winner adds to his lengthy list of achievements in racing which includes 56 wins at Royal Ascot and 16 Classic victories in Britain, including Derby success on Authorized in 2007 and Golden Horn eight years later. This season Dettori has amassed 50 wins, including the 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes on Galileo Gold.
Galileo Gold and Frankie Dettori land the St James’s Palace Stakes
PICTURE: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)
Former champion
Dettori has been crowned champion jockey in Britain on three occasions, including in 1994 when he recorded a tally of 233 winners, a figure only topped by Sir Gordon Richards and Fred Archer on the Flat.
His most unbelievable achievement came in 1996, when completing a clean sweep of the races at Ascot to land his forever famous Magnificent Seven. The most extraordinary day’s racing reportedly costing Britain’s bookmakers a combined £40 million.
Having made clear his intention to ride on in the immediate future – vowing to ride for at least another five years back in March – he looks destined to surpass Smith’s total, which would put him behind Willie Carson’s total of 3,828 on the all-time list.
WINNING-MOST JOCKEYS IN BRITAIN
| Wins | Jockey | First/last win | Flat | Jumps |
| 4870 | Sir Gordon Richards | 1921-54 | 4870 | - |
| 4633 | Pat Eddery | 1969-2003 | 4633 | - |
| 4513 | Lester Piggott | 1948-94 | 4493 | 20 |
| 4208 | Sir Anthony McCoy | 1994-2015 | 4 | 4204 |
| 3828 | Willie Carson | 1962-96 | 3828 | - |
| 3111 | Doug Smith | 1932-67 | 3111 | - |
| 3082 | Richard Johnson | 1994- | 4 | 3078 |
| 3000 | FRANKIE DETTORI | 1987- | 3000 | - |
| 2810 | Joe Mercer | 1950-85 | 2810 | - |
| 2748 | Fred Archer | 1870-86 | 2748 | - |
Frankie Dettori celebrates after winning at Newmarket on Friday
PICTURE: Getty Images
Dettori vows to keep riding after milestone
FRANKIE DETTORI has vowed to continue riding for as long as he can after becoming just the sixth jockey in history to ride 3,000 Flat winners in Britain on Friday.
Dettori, 45, brought up the landmark figure aboard Predilection for long-term ally John Gosden and is targeting Doug Smith’s total winners of 3,111 to move up to fifth on the all-time list of winningmost riders in Britain.
“It was a great night. I wanted to do it at a special place like Newmarket where I knew my family would be,” Dettori said. “I’d love to get in front of Doug Smith and that’s my next target, but Willie [Carson, fourth on the list] is on 3,800 winners so I think he’s beyond my reach.
“I’m going to carry on as long as I can. I’m healthy, I have stable support and I’m really enjoying it. Success breeds success.”
Gosden support crucial
Dettori said the support of Gosden, who reunited with the rider late in 2014, and his retained role with owner Sheikh Joaan Al Thani’s Al Shaqab Racing has inspired him to the resurgence he has had recently with the likes of Derby and Arc winner Golden Horn and 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes scorer Galileo Gold.
“[John and I] started together 20 years ago and my first two championships were with John,” Dettori told At The Races. “I then had an amazing 18 years with Godolphin and now that I’m with Sheikh Joaan and John Gosden I’ve found a great second half of my career. It was a special moment to have John next to me.
“Now I don’t have to chase titles, I’m financially okay and I can just sit back and enjoy doing what I’m doing. When you’re young you try to prove yourself. Now I’m able to go out and take it or leave it and just enjoy it.”
Magnificent Crest
Among the many special achievements in his career, Dettori nominated the victory of Fujiyama Crest, which completed his famed Magnificent Seven at Ascot in 1996, as his most important win.
He said: “I’ve ridden so many great winners but my most important was probably Fujiyama Crest winning the seventh race at Ascot. It was only a two mile handicap but it made history and brought racing to the front pages and launched my career.”
Dettori was at his brilliant best in last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
Frankie Dettori: his five most memorable rides
ON THE day Frankie Dettori rode his 3,000th winner in Britain, Steve Dennis looks back at five of his greatest rides
Frankie Dettori celebrates on Fujiyama Crest in September 1996
PICTURE: Phil Smith/Sporting Life
Fujiyama Crest
1996 Gordon Carter Handicap, Ascot
Dettori made all on a willing partner, saw off the sustained challenge of the runner-up inside the final furlong and held on by a neck. And so the bare report tells us very little, for this was the culmination of the most extraordinary day’s racing – the Magnificent Seven. When Dettori went out on Fujiyama Crest – a 16-1 chance masquerading as 2-1 favourite – he already had six wins to his name on the day, a remarkable feat but not unique. He probably felt no pressure, surfing a wave of confidence that was outrageous even for him, but nevertheless this was great history in the making, a race newly endowed with great importance, for after all that had gone before he simply had to win this race too. He did not disappoint. No-one who saw it will ever forget this ride.
Fantastic Light (far side) edges out Galileo in a thriller
PICTURE: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos)
Fantastic Light
2001 Irish Champion Stakes
One of the great tactical rides. Fantastic Light and Galileo, the two best horses in Europe, had met at Ascot where Galileo prevailed, but this time the tables were turned in thrilling style. Dettori waited on the rail behind pacemaker Give The Slip, and when that horse drifted slightly right on the home turn he pushed Fantastic Light through the gap and into the lead. It was a crucial move; he had first run aboard a top-class galloper, and although Galileo was soon at his girth he could never get nearer. After the finesse came the fury – Dettori drove his mount to the line with unflinching strength and determination. “I’d done my job to the best of my ability,” said Dettori – and it showed.
Golden Horn and Frankie Dettori winning last year’s Derby
PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)
Golden Horn
2015 Derby
This would not rank among Dettori’s great technical feats of riding – he was on the best horse in the race and enjoyed a straightforward run through – but as far as personal satisfaction goes it is arguably top of the heap. Two years earlier he was the forgotten man of racing, now here he was again on the greatest stage, the hero of the hour in his rightful place. He pushed out Golden Horn into a glory he must have thought would never come again, and all the more memorable for it. “It was the best emotion I ever had,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “For a million reasons. Coming back from being so down, from nearly quitting, to find another chance, a Derby favourite and winning: it was tremendous. It was my renaissance.”
Dettori returns to the Longchamp winners’ enclosure on Golden Horn
PICTURE: Getty Images
Golden Horn
2015 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
If the Derby win was his renaissance, Longchamp was where he returned to his peak. Golden Horn was drawn unsuitably wide and there was punditry about how Dettori might endeavour to overcome that disadvantage. No-one foresaw what he would eventually do – he kept straight from the stalls, shunning the early scramble for position, and when after a couple of furlongs he angled towards the field he did so to slot in behind the pacemaker and avoid the habitual trouble in running that is a feature of the race. That put his mount in prime position to utilise his proven stamina and when the race began in earnest Dettori kicked on, and nothing could catch him.
Sergeant Cecil and Dettori light up York
PICTURE: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)
Sergeant Cecil
2006 Lonsdale Cup
It was Dettori’s first ride on Britain’s favourite stayer of the time, who had his quirks, notably his need to be settled in the early stages of his races. Dettori performed that task well, dropping him out last, but when the time came to move up Sergeant Cecil didn’t go. He wallowed in his usual flat spot and Dettori could have been forgiven for panic, but he kept his head, sat down in the saddle and drove the old soldier along until his overdrive kicked in. When it did, all was soon well, victory by half a length, Dettori’s patient perseverance the key.
SABATO 13 AGOSTO 2016 Magnifico Frankie Dettori! Vince a Newmarket e raggiunge 3000 vittorie in UK. #Frankie3000 entra nell’olimpo dei grandissimi ed il sesto a riuscirci, da leggenda. Una carriera incredibile per il fantino italiano!
