Dettori blows it again, leaves empty-handed

INTERNATIONAL superstar Frankie Dettori is again leaving Australia with an unwanted suspension and without a Melbourne Cup victory.

The flamboyant hoop was again the centrepoint of a dramatic finish to the 3200m staying event, causing interference within the shadows of the post and ultimately costing him second place.

The high drama that follows Dettori was once again to the fore — his mount Master Of Reality, trained by Joseph O’Brien, finished second behind Vow And Declare but had shifted in and squeezed into the fast-finishing Il Paradiso.

Stewards protested the result — fourth against second — and it was upheld, relegating Dettori’s mount to fourth place and bumping Prince Of Arran into second and Il Paradiso into third. “I feel like I could cry,” the 48-year-old said after he fell a half-head short.

Master Of Reality partowner Nick Williams said he was “shattered” that Dettori — who specifically requested to ride the five-year-old — had again been left wanting in his pursuit of a maiden Cup.

“Nothing would have been better to have won the race with him,” Williams said.

“He’s the world’s best for a reason. I’m shattered for him. That was his race. But anyway, we’ll keep trying.”

The nine-meeting ban –— which will end on November 14 — marked the second time that Dettori, who refused to speak with media after the hearing, has been charged with careless riding in the Melbourne Cup over the past five years.

In 2015 he was hit with a $20,000 fine and month-long ban for interference before Michelle Payne saluted on Prince Of Penzance.

He said he had planned to fly to Japan last night but that was in doubt.

Stewards determined the low-range offence had caused both Il Paradiso jockey Wayne Lordan and race victor Craig Williams to be affected in the dying seconds of the race.