FLYING FRANKIE’S CATCH OF THE DAY
FRANKIE DETTORI landed the prize catch of the Ebor Festival’s final day with a York masterclass aboard Trawlerman.
The Italian took his mount into a clear lead as the 9-1 shot, trained by John Gosden (right, with Trawlerman) and drawn 20 of 22, raced away from 19 rivals for the Sky Bet Ebor Handicap.
Glorious Goodwood winner Trawlerman faced a war on two fronts from Irish raider Earl Of Tyrone and Alfred Boucher, but found reserves to edge out the latter, bidding to add to a victory at the track on Wednesday, by a short head. “It was always the plan to stay wide and I was amazed I was 10 lengths clear when I got to the stable gate,” said Dettori, who used similar tactics aboard Trawlerman’s sire Golden Horn when landing the 2015 Prix de l’arc de Triomphe.
“When the horse was in the sandwich he got competitive.
“I thought, ‘Maybe I’ve just run out of time’. But he put his head down on the line.”
Dettori infamously – and prematurely – celebrated success in York’s Nunthorpe Stakes five years ago before the photo-finish revealed his mount Lady Aurelia had been beaten by Marsha.
“I’ve been there with Lady Aurelia and got it wrong, so I thought I would just wait for the result this time – it scarred me forever!” laughed the jockey, who had earlier ridden Kinross to capture the Group 2 City Of York Stakes for Ralph Beckett.
Last Sunday, Dettori partnered the Gosdens’ Inspiral to land the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois at
Deauville and rides Australian mare Verry Elleegant and Persian Force in Group 1 action at the Normandy venue this afternoon.
The latter mount comes at the expense of James Doyle, injured in a fall at Salisbury on Friday, and Dettori added: “I got the spare ride through misfortune, but I’m looking forward to both.”
Dettori and Gosden are now firmly back in tandem after their early summer ‘sabbatical’.
“When our man’s in the zone, he’s absolutely top class,” said the master of Newmarket’s Clarehaven Stables, before adding: “When he’s not in the zone, he’s a menace!”