Frankie Dettori and Dangerous Midge win Turf
He may have left it until the penultimate race, but Frankie Dettori finally found a reason for one of his flying dismounts at the Breeders’ Cup.
In July the colt was winning the Old New Cup at Haydock Park off a handicap mark of just 96 – which must have been the biggest certainty ever to look through a bridle – but was then only eighth when a non-stayer in the Ebor Handicap at York in July and won the Group Three Arc Trial at Newbury the following month.
All of which still made a run in the Turf something of a shot in the dark, but Brian Meehan – who won the race with Red Rocks in 2006 on the same course – took it and Dettori found the bulls eye in the race for the fourth time and his 10th Breeders’ Cup win overall.
Champ Pegasus had led from the gates and was still in front swinging into the home straight, but with the three European runners in the race right on his tail. Behkabad, the favourite and Debussy seemed to have been handed a golden opportunity when Champ Pegasus came off the hedge and left them both with a clear run to the line.
But neither of them found much when they were let down to run while Dangerous Midge, under a strong driving ride from Dettori, slowly clawed his way past Champ Pegasus with Behkabad in third. When Dettori finally landed on the ground his first thoughts were for Martin Dwyer, the jockey who had ridden Dangerous Midge in his last seven starts but is currently still recovering from injuries sustained in a fall at Leicester in late September.
“I feel sorry for Martin because it was his ride,” he said, adding: “Thank God, the last one and we got there in the end. He was a little bit lazy – I had to get a little bit angry with him.”
The trainer was happy enough just to carry on his run of winning at least one Group One race in six of the last seven years. "To come back and do it a second time feels amazing," Meehan said."We've always liked this horse, and we've just been developing him all the way through."
One of Europe’s main challengers at the meeting had been Workforce, who was being prepared for a unique treble of victories in the Derby, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Turf.
However, there had been concerns raised by connections about the firmness of the turf course almost as soon as the colt arrived at Churchill. They could well have been influenced by the poor run that Workforce had put up when only third to Cape Blanco when he ran in the Group Two Dante Stakes at York in May.
Sir Michael Stoute had refused to commit his horse and tried some subtle – or not so subtle according to some observers – comments to try to persuade the track superintendant to increase the amount of water that was put on the turf track.
However, eventually Stoute elected to not attempt a fifth victory in the race and instead scratched Workforce just hours before the race. Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Prince Khalid Abdullah, said: “There’s been no rain and the ground is firmer than we would like for Workforce. We’ve absolutely no complaints, but the welfare of the horse is paramount.
“Prince Khalid has always been a great supporter of the Breeders' Cup, and no one is more disappointed than he.”
http://www.senore.com/Zenyatta-beaten-in-Breeders-Cup-Classic-a39462http://www.senore.com/Goldikova-makes-it-three-and-easy-in-Mile-a39450
http://www.senore.com/Uncle-Mo-imperious-in-Juvenile-a39449
http://www.senore.com/Big-Drama-hits-the-accelerator-in-Sprint-a39440
http://www.senore.com/Paul-Hanagan-wins-Flat-jockeys-championship-a39436http://www.senore.com/Kauto-Star-wins-Champion-Chase-at-Down-Royal-a39435
Tags: