There will be tears ... win or lose
DETTORI & ENABLE EYE RECORD THIRD ARC AS RETIREMENT BECKONS FOR WONDER HORSE
TODAy promises to be another momentous chapter in Frankie Dettori’s storied career.
But it’s also the one he had wished would never dawn.
Enable will become the only horse in history to capture the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe three times if she justifies favouritism at ParisLongchamp this afternoon.
But any post-race hoopla will be laced with sorrow that the Arc is, very likely, the superstar mare’s final race.
‘I don’t want to think of the sad thing – that she’s going to retire,” admitted Dettori. “I just try to focus on the Arc, but it’s going to be a sad day.”
Dettori’s emotions flow in torrents. “Maria Callas is easy to deal with by comparison,” laughed Enable’s trainer John Gosden.
But only the marble-hearted would mock. The Italian has been riding in Britain for 33 years and Enable has been part of his life for the past four of them. “In Flat racing, they are not around long enough for you to get attached to them,” observed the planet’s most celebrated jockey. “This one has!
“It’s unheard of for a horse that good to stay in training until six, so I’ve never had a horse this good for this long. She means a lot – the lot.”
Enable sped away from 17 rivals to capture her first Arc at Chantilly in 2017, holding on grimly from the ill-starred Sea Of Class after ParisLongchamp’s reopening 12 months later.
The daughter of Nathaniel looked destined for history when sweeping to the front in search of the hat-trick last October, only for Waldgeist’s stamina to wrest the spoils in the final 50 yards of the mile-and-a-half.
“It was the longest – the worst – two hours of my life,” recalled Dettori, who turns 50 in December. “The Arc was the third thoroughbred race on the card. After she got beat I had to try and keep my chin up and ride on, while everyone was feeling sorry for me.”
The mud was hock deep in the French capital that afternoon, and the ground will be heavy again after torrential rain that has caused Enable’s market rival, Love, to defect.
After a return-to-the-fray defeat by Ghaiyyath in Sandown Park’s Coral-Eclipse Stakes, the six-year
old left this afternoon’s rivals Sovereign and Japan standing in the King George & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot before warming up for the Arc with an effortless 1- 14 win in the September Stakes at Kempton Park.
Dettori is adamant the fire still burns and said: “I live with her, so I see two horses – I see Enable in the mornings and I see Enable in the afternoons.
“It’s amazing what you feel – it’s like she grows a foot. Even without spectators. It’s incredible. She knows. She grinds her teeth. She’s like a boxer going into the ring. The gloves are on and the veins are sticking out. She wants it.
“I love her so much, I want her to be remembered for ever – and only by winning a third Arc can she become a great.”
EIGHT horses trained by Aidan O’Brien, including four in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, have been cleared to run at Longchamp today, despite consuming feed contaminated with a banned substance earlier in the week.
I love her so much, I want her to be remembered
for ever