NORTH STAR
Frankie makes it three Dubai wins on the trot
FRANKIE DETTORI missed out on a record fifth Dubai World Cup victory yesterday – but still took centre stage at Meydan thanks to old ally Lord North.
The Italian was riding at the glittering fixture for the final time after his announcement last December that he will retire from the saddle at the end of 2023.
And Lord North made sure the farewell celebrations went with a swing as he captured the Group 1 Dubai Turf for the third time in a row.
Trained in partnership by John and Thady Gosden, the seven-yearold – who had deadheated for the nine-furlong test 12 months earlier – swooped to collar Nations Pride at the furlong pole.
Dettori dropped his whip as Lord North made his move before containing the late run of Japanese challenger Danon Beluga to land the £2.4million first prize by three-quarters of a length.
Dettori was the No.1 jockey to Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin racing operation for 18 years.
He beamed: “I came with some decent rides, and just to get one on the board at this beautiful place, that has been my home for so many winters, really is special.
“To win this on a horse that’s done it three years in a row is fantastic. He can get sick easily, which is why he doesn’t run that often, but the boys get him ready for this race. I was so confident that I lost my whip 300 yards out.” But there was to be no outright record fifth triumph for Dettori in the Dubai World Cup, in which favourite and defending champion Country Grammer returned well beaten in seventh place behind Japanesetrained Ushba Tesoro. Dettori – like American legend Jerry Bailey a fourtime World Cup hero –
was at work throughout on the Bob Baffert six-yearold, who had no more to offer as the runners turned for home.
James Doyle sat motionless aboard Algiers, whose form for father-andson Simon and Ed Crisford has scaled new heights in Dubai this year, before dashing his mount to the front on the run to the last of the 10 furlongs.
But Ushba Tesoro and Yuga Kawada powered home from last place to pocket the £5.8m on offer for the winning horse.
As Japan again flexed its muscles on the international stage, Equinox broke the track record in humbling 2022 Irish Derby victor Westover in the Dubai Sheema Classic.
He is now 6-1 favourite to give his nation a landmark first success in the Prix de l’arc de Triomphe in October.