Dettori: My Derby was over before it started

FRANKIE DETTORI believes English King lost his chance in Saturday’s Epsom Derby as soon as he veered left leaving the starting stalls. The post-mortem continued yesterday into how Emmet McNamara-ridden Serpentine was able to make all the running to land the Classic by five-and-a-half lengths, securing a record eighth win for trainer Aidan O’Brien. McNamara built up an early lead on the 25-1 winner, poaching valuable lengths in the seventh and eighth furlongs of the mile-and-a-half race – allowing him to hang on despite being on the slowest horse in the race over the last two furlongs. The numbers suggest that his fellow jockeys made an error not chasing him earlier, but Dettori (right), who finished fifth on English King, said his race plan was dictated by the stalls exit. He said: ‘Stall one was a big negative. He went left at the start and then I was on the back foot straight away. ‘Once you are in that position, you are in the lap of the gods. ‘Coming around Tattenham Corner, we gave Serpentine a big lead and he left us for dead.’ Serpentine’s next race could be the St Leger at Doncaster in September, although that could also be the target of O’Brien’s Irish Derby winner Santiago. The O’Brien family’s weekend got even better when youngest son Donnacha, in his first season as a trainer, won yesterday’s French Oaks at Chantilly with Fancy Blue, ridden by PierreCharles Boudot. It was an Irish 1-2-3, with Jessica Harrington’s Alpine Star second and Aidan O’Brien’s Peaceful third.