Whenever they have a big occasion at Ascot racecourse, Frankie Dettori is liable to take over and so it was on Saturday, when the Royal meeting finished with an eight-race bang and the effervescent Italian won three of them. This has been the busiest ever Royal Ascot, extended to 36 races, and must surely have been a severe test of the fitness of a 49-year-old jockey who had been on an enforced holiday until three weeks ago, but the old familiar Tigger act was on display as he bent his fingers into heart-shapes for the winning horses and fired imaginary arrows at TV cameras.
It seems a terrible pity that such showmanship should be wasted on an empty grandstand but if any rider in the history of the game could be relied upon to rise above a lack of atmosphere and project his happiness for the folks watching at home, it would be Dettori. He fairly bounced up to a laptop when asked to join a Zoom meeting for the benefit of reporters, crying: “Hey hey! Ho ho! Come on, keep it short and sweet!”
His three winners meant that he wrested from Jim Crowley the title of top jockey, a feat that had seemed so unlikely on Saturday morning, one firm offered him at 20-1. But he did not remain on the site to see if Crowley could get a late winner and recover his lead, heading home instead to Newmarket as the stalls clanged open for the Wokingham. Was this some consequence of the strict protocols under which racing was being staged? “Er, no,” said an official. “I think he was just thirsty for some champagne …”
In normal circumstances, there would be plenty of that stuff kicking around the Queen’s racecourse but evidently this strangest of Royal Ascots was a dry old party. Dettori had thoroughly earned his drink, landing the Coventry aboard the US raider Campanelle, taking Alpine Star the shortest way around to deliver the Coronation Stakes for Ireland and then teaming up with his old ally John Gosden in the St James’s Palace Stakes, in which Palace Pier avoided scrimmaging with an irresistible and unimpeded run up the middle of the track.
Those moments of brilliance, as he repeatedly made good decisions to smooth the way for his mounts, led Dettori to two milestones. The Coronation had resisted him for 30 years but he has now won every top-class race at Royal Ascot. And he has now reached 73 winners at the famous race-meeting, matching the career total of the late Pat Eddery.
“I’ve really conquered Royal Ascot completely now,” Dettori said after the Coronation. “It’s a big tick in one of my boxes, so I’m delighted. “I sat next to Pat for 15 years, he was one of my heroes. We used to nickname him God and now I’ve equalled him, great satisfaction. God bless him.
“It’s been an unbelievable day, an unbelievable Royal Ascot. To come out of here with six wins over the week is not easy. You can all sit back and say, ‘This’ll win, that’ll win,’ but we’ve still got to go out and do it. I’ve had some great ammunition from different owners, it’s been a successful and fun week for me.”
The St James’s Palace had been understandably billed as a rematch between the placed horses from the 2,000 Guineas, the galloper Wichita and the pacey Pinatubo. From an early stage, it appeared the contingent of three runners from Aidan O’Brien’s stable were intent on moulding the race to suit themselves, with Wichita in front and Arizona and Royal Dornoch tracking him. In the end, the latter two contributed little to the race other than being obstacles for rival horses trying to quicken past them in the final half-mile.
The stewards were sufficiently concerned to ask Tom Marquand to explain his riding aboard Royal Dornoch, urged along by the jockey up the side of the course when Threat came up on his outer, preventing Threat from going past and keeping that rival on the outside. They noted his explanation that Royal Dornoch had seemed unsuited by taking a lead in his previous race, so he wanted to race wide and without cover.
Pinatubo managed to thread a passage among the Ballydoyle runners and loomed up at the top of the straight, seeming a danger to all. But he had no answer for Palace Pier and barely edged out Wichita for second.
Unbeaten last year, Pinatubo will get a big chance to rediscover the winning thread in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood next month. Gosden is so certain that Goodwood will be a better fit for Pinatubo than Ascot that he will skip that race with his winner and go instead to France for the Prix Jacques le Marois.
Another record fell on Saturday that, by its nature, could not have been forseeen when Nando Parrado became the biggest outsider ever to win at the Royal meeting, returned at 150-1 after beating his rivals in the Coventry. The original Parrado, who gave permission for his name to be used, was one of 16 survivors of a plane crash in the Andes in 1972. No horse has ever been better named for beating the odds.
Marquand had a happier experience in the day’s final race when Who Dares Wins became his first winner at Royal Ascot, matching the achievement of his girlfriend, Hollie Doyle, who won Friday’s final race in the same white and red silks. It was also a huge day for the Danish-born Kevin Stott, who rode the winners of both the Wokingham and the Diamond Jubilee. All three are half Dettori’s age and will surely be winning here long after his retirement, however many years that may be from now.
Wolverhampton 12.00 Rooster 12.30 Funky Bear 1.00 Tommy Rock 1.30 Silk Lace 2.05 Creek Harbour 2.35 Vivacious Spirit 3.05 Rock Icon 3.35 Red Secret
Redcar 12.15 Hello Girl 12.45 Tum Tulliver 1.15 Baileys Breathless 1.45 Saint Lawrence 2.15 High Accolade (nap) 2.45 Gold Zabeel 3.15 Arbalet 3.45 Trevithick 4.15 Ampney Red 4.45 Revolver
Kempton 1.25 Enduring 1.55 Baby Sham 2.25 Feel Good Factor 2.55 The Game Of Life 3.25 Impatient 3.55 Cognac (nb) 4.25 Tamaris 4.55 Bo Samraan 5.30 Vibrance