Dettori set to Enable yet more success

FRANKIE DETTORI says he has been delighted with the recent progress of Enable in training ahead of the two-time Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe winner’s comeback in Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. The John Gosden-trained mare, who bypassed Royal Ascot to prepare for her return run, was yesterday cut to 13-8 favourite by the sponsors ahead of a likely stern test from old rival Magical and Circus Maximus, both trained by Aidan O’Brien. Crystal Ocean, the Prince of Wales’ Stakes winner trained by Sir Michael Stoute, is also a possible runner. Dettori said: ‘Enable is well and I am very pleased with her. I have been riding her for the past month. She has really come on and we are ready for the run.’ Circus Maximus, the Derby sixth who dropped back to a mile to land the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, will be a marker for the three-year-olds in the first serious class of the generations this summer. Gauging how good the crop of three-year-olds is has been made harder by the 33-1 win of O’Brien’s Sovereign in Saturday’s Irish Derby, when rival jockeys appeared to give the surprise winner and his jockey Padraig Beggy too much rope in establishing a clear lead. Dettori was speaking at Saint-Cloud, where he and Gosden led an afternoon of British domination. They combined to win the Group Two Prix De Malleret with Mehdaayih, who bounced back from defeat and a rough passage in the Oaks, then won the Group One Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud as Dettori seized a ground-saving run up the inside rail on Coronet, with stablemate Lah Ti Dar in third. Charlie Appleby’s Art Du Val, ridden by James Doyle, smoothly won the Listed Prix de Saint Patrick. But most impressive of all was Headman, trained by Roger Charlton, who smoothly transitioned from handicap company to beat Appleby’s Jalmoud three lengths in the Prix Eugene Adam. It was a debut win in France for jockey Jason Watson.