Dettori to appeal his ban
BAD TIMING: 10-DAY SUSPENSION WOULD KEEP HIM OUT OF GLORIOUS GOODWOOD
Top jockey also ends association with Al Shaqab Racing.
Frankie Dettori will appeal against the 10-day ban he received for careless riding at last week's July festival at Newmarket, with bookmaker Paddy Power making it odds-on the suspension will be reduced.
Dettori described himself as devastated following the suspension last Friday, with the ban ruling him out of the Qipco King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and the five-day Glorious Goodwood meeting.
Speaking yesterday Dettori's agent, Peter Burrell, said: "The plan is to definitely appeal, they're preparing it today. We'll know more once we've put the appeal in."
Paddy Power quote 4-6 that the ban is reduced. They go 15-8 it is upheld, 25-1 it is increased and 100-1 it is quashed in its entirety.
The firm's spokesman Paul Binfield said: "Clearly Frankie’s people think he has a strong case and, while we don’t believe they will manage to completely wipe the slate, we do think the 10 days is very likely to be shortened."
Dettori is currently set to miss several high-profile rides, including Stradivarius in the Goodwood Cup and Without Parole in the Sussex Stakes. He is due to be out of action from 27 July to 5 August inclusive.
In other news the formal association between Dettori and Al Shaqab Racing has come to an amicable end after the world's highest-profile jockey informed Sheikh Joaan he wanted to prioritise his commitment to John Gosden.
Speculation about Dettori's future role with Al Shaqab heightened during Royal Ascot when he failed to partner any horses for the Qatari royal family's racing stable.
It was revealed that as of this month Dettori – who won the 2000 Guineas and St James's Palace Stakes on Al Shaqab's Galileo Gold two years ago – is no longer contracted to an operation that endured torrid headlines during the winter when it emerged several leading Flat trainers were collectively owed more than £1 million in unpaid fees.
Although those bills were eventually settled, Dettori's six-figure retainer was reported to have been reduced significantly in line with a downsizing of Sheikh Joaan's racing interests in Britain, where he now has 60 horses in training, compared to 90 in 2017.
The sheikh's last Britishtrained Group race success came when Shalaa won the Bengough Stakes under Dettori at Ascot in October 2016.
Alison Begley, who took on the role of Al Shaqab's UK racing manager after Harry Herbert left the organisation earlier this year, told the Racing Post: "It is all very amicable and we now have a gentleman's agreement with Frankie.
"We would have signed Frankie for another year but he is very keen to be free to ride John Gosden's horses and contacted Sheikh Joaan directly to say as much, although he also made clear he would like to ride for us on the bigger days.
"Before Ascot we asked Frankie's agent, Ray Cochrane, what was the situation and Ray said Frankie would like to be available to ride John's horses and asked if the trainers of our horses could use their own jockeys. That was agreed and the sheikh was very kind to let Frankie off to ride John's horses as we knew we didn't have the high-profile horses going to Ascot." –