IT’S STILL FUN-TIME FRANKIE
Gosden split, but Dettori clear: I’m NOT retiring
FRANKIE DETTORI vowed “I’m not retiring” as he broke his silence on the split with boss John Gosden that has shocked the racing world.
Royal Ascot defeats for Dettori aboard three-time Gold Cup hero Stradivarius, and the Queen’s pair Saga and Reach For The Moon, drew stinging criticism from Gosden (below), and fuelled rumours the pair – one of the most famous trainer-jockey
combinations the sport has known – could be about to go their separate ways.
After crunch talks at Gosden’s Clarehaven Stables in Newmarket on Friday night – and Dettori tellingly overlooked for three Gosden runners at Newmarket yesterday – the five-time champion trainer broke the news
of a “sabbatical”. But most observers believe the separation will be a permanent one.
And Dettori spoke of a Gosdenfree future after he rode the Ralph Beckett-trained Lezoo – his first mount since the end of Ascot last Saturday – to victory in Newmarket’s Listed Maureen Brittain Memorial Empress Fillies’ Stakes.
“It’s a new start, and I will take a step at a time – I’m not going to retire!” said Dettori, who returned to generous cheers from racegoers at the track’s July Course – responding in kind with a flying dismount – after scoring on his sole mount at the meeting, before travelling to Istanbul for today’s Gazi Derby.
“I’m definitely riding this year and next year,” he added.
“After that, I don’t know. I’m suspended for most of next week but I am in Germany the week after that, I’m going to America for Charlie Appleby – Belmont, possibly Saratoga as well.
“So I will not be riding much for the next three or four weeks. But if you don’t see me riding domestically, it’s not because I gave up – I’m not stopping – it’s because I’m abroad.
“I will be back for King George week and then Goodwood.”
Dettori, 51, rode the first Classic winner of Gosden’s career – Shantou in the 1996 St Leger – and rejoined the trainer on a permanent basis in 2015.
Having landed his – and Gosden’s – second Derby aboard Golden Horn at
Epsom that summer,
Dettori combined with his mentor to capture a further three Classics, as well as the Prix de l’arc de Triomphe in 2017 and 2018 on board Enable.
“We’re still good friends and I’ll be forever grateful for what John did for me in the past,” added the Italian.
“But me and John had a meeting and we both decided that we’re going to have a sabbatical or a break, and that’s that.”