Spotlight falls on Dettori in York clash

• Jockey has a winning chance on Lady Aurelia

Not for the first time in his illustrious career, jockey Frankie Dettori will be the main attraction when he rides Lady Aurelia in Friday’s Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at this famous Yorkshire track.

Trained by Wesley Ward, who is a master with sprinters, Lady Aurelia is expected to blaze a trail out in front and try and win this 1,000m dash from start to finish.

However, there is a suspicion from previous years that Ward’s team are best during the months of June and July when they usually run at Ascot.

If this is true, it means that Lady Aurelia’s main rival Battaash could well step in and take top honours.

Trainer Charlie Hills has done well with Battaash this term and is bidding to make it four wins in a row.

The ante-post betting suggests it is a match race with Betfair offering the best price of 7-4 for Lady Aurelia, while the majority of other bookmakers quote Dettori’s mount at 5-4.

With the exception of William Hill, who only offers 13-8, Battaash is also available with most layers at 7-4, with Marsha the third favourite at 10-1.

Wednesday’s two big races here — the Juddmonte International and Great Voltigeur Stakes — saw impressive performances by both Ulysses and Cracksman but the horses, co-owned by Steinhoff boss Markus Jooste, had to settle for places in both of these major events.

Douglas Macarthur, who ran so well for a long way in the Investec Derby in June, was tipped by some pundits to upset Cracksman and they suggested the son of Galileo would be hard to peg back if he established a big lead.

Jockey Wayne Lorden clearly had not read the script and elected to place Douglas Macarthur at the rear and while his mount made some progress in the straight, he was left for dead by Cracksman and simply kept going at the same pace to finish a disappointing fourth.

It was a similar scenario with another horse Jooste co-owns with Coolmore when Derby runner-up, Cliffs of Moher, finished a never dangerous fourth in the Juddmonte International.

Top jockey Ryan Moore had chosen to ride Churchill in this £1m race and — while beaten two lengths by Ulysses — he did take the runner-up cheque.

Ulysses’ victory gained the Sir Michael Stoute inmate an automatic berth in the $4m Breeders Cup Turf to be run at the Del Mar race track in California in November.

John Gosden, trainer of Cracksman, said his star might contest the prestigious Arc De Triomphe at Chantilly in France on October 1.

Trainer William Haggas, who often saddles winners at York, had a disappointing 57th birthday on Wednesday with his sole runner trailing in last.

It will hopefully be a different story on Saturday, when he saddles Headway in the Gimcrack Stakes for which the colt is quoted by Paddy Power at a generous 7-1.

He looks a good each-way wager at that price.

The other big race on Saturday is the Betfred Ebor Handicap and Flymetothestars heads the betting market in this one mile six furlong race at 8-1.

It remains to be seen whether Haggas runs Dal Harraild, but if not, Higher Power might be worth a few rand eachway at his current odds of 16-1.