‘I’ll miss the crowd, but I am just so excited to be back out there racing’
Frankie Dettori, targeting more glory in Berkshire 30 years after his first Royal winner, says he cannot guarantee TV viewers one of his flying dismounts
It is 30 years since Markofdistinction gave a fresh-faced Frankie Dettori his first taste of Royal Ascot acclaim. This year, however, he will find this patch of Berkshire he rides so well like the Mary Celeste of sports stadiums – but without the dining table laid.
No other jockey since Lester Piggott has risen to the big occasion quite like Dettori, in fact so much so that it has even been suggested that he might not be as effective at an empty Ascot.
That is a naive view, however, and you have only to hear the excitement in his voice ahead of the strangest of Royal Ascots to know that the one person who will not be satisfied if he does not add – substantially given there are six extra races this year – to his tally of 67 Royal winners will be the jockey himself.
Last year he was leading jockey, for the sixth time in total but the first time in 15 years, with seven winners including the first four on Thursday, which prompted bookmakers to start running for cover in fear of a deja vu of his “Magnificent Seven”.
That was the event that propelled him to fame in 1996, since when he has been the only jockey who gets recognised in the street – outside of Newmarket – and prompted the Ascot authorities to put up a statue of him.
“What’s really bizarre is that after you win it’s just you and the trainer in the winner’s enclosure,” says Dettori, 49, who comes into the meeting riding winners at a 40 per cent strike rate since racing’s resumption. “Ascot’s so much bigger, it will be madness. But it is Royal Ascot – it’s still a showcase for our sport, we have had the privilege of being the first sport back and this is our chance.
“We’ve got the Americans, the Irish and the French, which all makes Royal Ascot. It’s the real thing – apart from the crowd and the owners.
“The racing is still going to be spectacular, all the best horses are there; Japan, Battaash, Stradivarius, as well as those that make their names this week.
“I will miss the crowd, but I’ll be so excited to be there after what the country has been through this year. Racing has started with a bang – it will be different, but it will be great.
“We’re taking the same approach as last year; we run a few, no bankers, but we came out smelling of roses. At the moment I’m on the right horses, but we’re up against everyone’s best.
“My most important ride is Stradivarius in the Gold Cup on Thursday. It’s not going to be easy. My advantage is that, unlike a lot of our rivals, we’ve been 2½ miles twice before and we’ve had a race.
“I think that was important for Stradivarius. It was a bit like running Mo Farah against Usain Bolt [Ghaiyyath] – it wasn’t fair. He’s been a two-mile-plus horse for three years and, dropping back in trip, I thought it was a good effort. He is one of the year favourites and he is one of mine.
“Sceptical, with his background of having cost £2,800, is a good ride to have picked up in the Diamond Jubilee [on Saturday].
“It will be different, but you’re still going to try to win. In France they don’t even have a commentary. They race in complete silence. I was riding at Yarmouth the other day; I was in front, but I could tell something was coming for me because I could hear it in the commentator’s voice! At least we’ve got some sort of atmosphere.”
It is, however, the sport’s patrons, the owners, who Dettori feels most sorry for this week.
“At least I’m out there doing what I do,” he says. “But for owners, having an Ascot runner is one of the highlights of the calendar, for some the highlight of their racing lives, so I can see it is very frustrating for them.
“We have partitions in the weighing room, so we sit in our own booths. We’re allowed our mobile phones now so everyone sits there playing games on their phones.
“At Yarmouth last week, I was put next to Franny Norton and Jimmy Quinn, we’re all around 50, that’s 150 years’ worth of knowledge. But we did ask why we were all together because we’re most at risk!”
Markofdistinction remains one of the jockey’s favourite horses. At the time, he had made his mark as champion apprentice and was in his first season having been promoted to stable jockey for Luca Cumani. All he needed was that one horse.
“He gave me my first Listed race, my first Group Two, my first Group One and first
‘I’m forever asked if I will jump off, but if I do win a race I may be deflated by the time I get back to the winner’s enclosure’
Crowd pleaser: Frankie Dettori makes a trademark dismount after Calyx’s Coventry Stakes victory in 2018 Royal Ascot winner in the Queen Anne,” Dettori reflects. “He was a beautiful black horse, very wide, it was like sitting on an armchair.
“You never forget your first Ascot winner although, having said that, I don’t remember much about the actual race. He had seen a bit too much daylight in the Lockinge, so I covered him up in last and was still there two out, then we got a lovely split up the rail on Pat Eddery’s inside. The other thing I remember is my dad being there.”
With two favourites (Daarik and Frankly Darling) and a second favourite (Terebellum) among his six rides today, it should not be long before we get the answer to the burning issue, however: a flying dismount or not.
“I’m forever asked if I’ll jump off,” he says. “When I won at Newmarket the lack of crowd put me off. Francesca Cumani was begging me to do a flying dismount for the television.
“But I need a bit of adrenalin to do that and by the time you’ve walked back – if I do ride a winner – I might be deflated by the time I get to the winner’s enclosure, the adrenalin gone.”
Dettori sliding off the side of a horse in the winner’s enclosure, rather than an acrobatic flying leap?
If there is no trademark dismount, it will, truly, be a bizarre Ascot.