Royal Ascot: A look back at some of Frankie Dettori's best moments at Royal Ascot - Part One
The most famous jockey around Frankie Dettori will of course wave goodbye to Royal Ascot for the final time in 2023. Admittedly, his crowning moment at the track, the magnificent seven, did not take place during the Royal week, but Frankie has still been part of the furniture at Royal Ascot for three decades now. Here we take a trip down memory lane to look back at three of Dettori's best moments during his stunning Royal Ascot career which has seen him win 77 races...
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2019 - Phenomenal four timer that sent bookies ducking for cover
Mention the name Biometric to the vast majority of racing fans and they will probably draw a blank, unless a serious Royal Ascot anorak. However, ask what the name means to some of the top bookmakers around Britain and Ireland and they will look back fondly and with a massive sigh of relief. On Day 3 in 2019 Frankie Dettori struck fear into every odds compiler around the land that he could do the impossible again, on an even grander stage, by going through the card at Ascot.
Beginning the day with a brilliant win on A'Ali in the Norfolk, Dettori was clearly at the top of his game and once again rode brilliantly to complete a quick fire double on Sangarius in the Hampton Court Stakes. Bookies were cursing their luck at this point but things got serious when the iconic Italian was back in the winners' enclosure for the third time that afternoon when his mount Star Catcher denied favourite Fleeting in the Ribblesdale.
Dettori was three from three, had the favourite in the feature race The Gold Cup and the bookies were officially at panic stations. When he got the right tune out of Stradivarius to claim the Gold Cup at even money, just two races stood in the way of an unimaginable feat. A Magnificent Six.
Dettori's ride in the Britannia Turgenev had opened up an unfancied 25/1, but with the sheer weight of money rolling on with Frankie accumulators the horse was smashed up into 7/2 favouritism before the off. A special atmosphere had gripped Ascot and when Dettori kicked his mount two lengths clear on the run for home, but to racing fans' dismay and bookies' delight he was reeled in by the unfancied 28/1 Biometric, so had to settle for second.
The impossible dream of a repeat of his greatest feat was over, but not before an all time great day at Royal Ascot was etched into history. In typical champion fashion Frankie was fuming with himself post race and said he had gone too soon in the Britannia due to the excitement, but there really will never be another collective holding of breath quite like the one where he made his move on Turgenev to go five from five.
Richard Hoiles' iconic line as he was caught close home 'Turgenev for the punters, Biometric for the bookmakers and it is Biometric who is going to thwart the five timer!' will live on forever.
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1990 - Frankie's First Royal Ascot Winner
It's hard to think of a racing world in which Frankie Dettori wasn't a household name, but back in 1990 he was still fairly fresh on the scene for Luca Cumani and the racing public of Britain and Ireland were not aware of the prowess of the young Italian that was about to take the sport by storm.
Of course now 33 years on, we have seen Frankie win in with all manner of horses and rides, but this one will surely always be one of the man himself's favourites both for the significance of bagging the Queen Anne, the fact it kicked the meeting off in perfect fashion for his team and of course the wonderful last-to-first ride he gave the horse.
Sitting cool as a cucumber as the race developed in front of him over a mile at Ascot, Dettori could've been mistaken for a seasoned veteran as he bided his time on the well fancied Markofdistinction at the back of the pack.
Punters who had backed him were surely thinking this kid was taking things too easy, but when Frankie began to go through the gears his mount responded in brilliant fashion. A stunning black horse he can be seen in the attached video scything through the rest of the field before bagging the rail and racing home to glory.
It may not have been the widest margin of success, or even the most dramatic of finishes for Frankie, but it was his arrival at a venue and festival he would become synonymous with.
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2016 - Lady Aurelia devours the field in the Queen Mary
The 2016 Queen Mary was a wow performance rarely matched in sport. Wesley Ward is nowadays notorious for bringing over bull-like two year olds that the excitable American exclaims is 'the fastest I've ever trained'. They more often than not, are not the fastest he has ever trained..
Back in 2016 however the schtick had not become as predictable as it is today and there was a mythical excitement about his small but select string of speed balls being brought over for the festivities. Lady Aurelia will probably forever be Ward's most visually impressive Royal Ascot winner, as she blitzed through the gates, got a few lengths in front of a good field while cruising under a motionless Frankie before Dettori pressed the turbo button.
What followed was spine-tingling. This absolute rocket of a filly scorched the Ascot turf to bound further clear and put the race to bed in a matter of strides. The gasps from the crowd are audible on the replay video and the sheer wonder in the commentator's voice exemplifies what a special performance this was. Lady Aurelia probably would've won with any rider on her back in truth, but the feel she must've given Frankie in this race is something else and will live long in the mind.
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