Dettori looks to avoid the bad and the ugly and have a good Crack in bid for Derby hat-trick

OVER the years Frankie Dettori’s Derby rides have been like a spaghetti western. He has had the good, the bad and the ugly.

There were the glory days that came with the adrenaline rush when both Authorized and Golden Horn burst clear to win. But there were also the disappointments and the rides when he has been bounced around Epsom like a pinball.

As Dettori reflected on that kaleidoscope of memories and the chance of a third Investec Derby victory when he rides Cracksman on Saturday, he said: “It’s the best racing day of the year. Well, it’s only the best day of the year if you win.”

On Derby day there is a tense atmosphere within the weighing room even for those, like Dettori, who have ridden in the race for more than 20 years. Get it right and the winning colt is suddenly worth millions. Get it wrong, as the late Greville Starkey did when Dancing Brave was left with too much ground to make up in 1986, and the jockey will carry the can for the rest of his career.

“The hours go past like a week before the race,” Dettori said. “It’s nerve-racking; the track is very challenging, you’ve got a 100 plans in your head and it can all go wrong. That’s what makes the Derby a unique race.”

Tattenham Corner is often the point which separates the champions from the potential juvenile hurdlers but Dettori has known his fate to be sealed long before that.

“Most of the time,” he said with a mixture of grin and grimace. “A lot of them have been among the favourites, but I’ve known we’re beat before I’ve got to the straight.” The sweep into that home straight is a tunnel of noise flanked by walls of colour as London enjoys its day out. But for a jockey riding a labouring horse on a course that is about as on the level as a snake oil salesman’s promise, the only sight they are looking for is the winning post and the sanctuary of that jockeys’ room. “It’s not very comfortable riding a horse that’s not going forward at Epsom because they’re all over the place on that track,” Dettori said. “It’s awful because you’re in everybody’s way – getting knocked all over the place – and you’re just trying to survive.”

Experience is not a something that Cracksman has much to call upon after just two races. The second of those was at Epsom last month when he did not impress all form students in beating Permian by a short head. But circumstances can alter the formbook as much as the facts.

Fast forward a month and Permian has won the Dante Stakes at York – which Cracksman missed due to the soft ground – and