Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FRANKIE’S STILL A FOUR-CE
FRANKIE DETTORI might be in the twilight of his remarkable career but that did not prevent the great man from being crowned Longines World’s Best Jockey for a fourth time.
“Who’d have thought at my age I could still do it,” said Dettori who turned 50 last month.
“It’s great to be recognised around the world and, for me, it’s a great honour.”
With no thoughts about retiring, Dettori again showed he has no equal at Royal Ascot last year and for that matter at any other racecourse in the world.
“For us Royal Ascot is the pinnacle and Stradivarius has been around for years,” added Dettori about his triple Ascot Gold Cup winner. “He’s an amazing horse.
“Palace Pier is a wonderful miler who came on the scene at Royal Ascot, winning an epic St James’s Palace.
“It goes without saying Enable has not just been the best horse but the horse I’ve loved most in my life – she’s won races around the world.
“We tried to win three Arcs, but just couldn’t make it.
“She did manage to win three King George’s at Ascot though, which is a record.
“I miss her a lot and she helped me win this award.”
Ghaiyyath was named as the Longines World’s Best Racehorse for 2020.
Trained by Charlie Appleby for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation, Ghaiyyath won three of Europe’s biggest Group One contests.
His year began in Dubai where he took a Group Three by a wide margin before he won the Coronation Cup, which was run at Newmarket last season.
After that he beat Enable in the Coral-eclipse and was relentless from the front under William Buick.
And Buick repeated the same tactics in a top-class Juddmonte International at York.