Frankie Dettori and Redford take starring role in Ayr Gold Cup
It was better late than never for Frankie Dettori as he won the William Hill Ayr Gold Cup on Redford.
The jockey was delayed on his journey from Newmarket when he was stopped from boarding his flight at Stansted airport because he had forgotten his passport and the race was delayed when Tajneed broke out of the starting stalls and was withdrawn from the race. That reduced David Nicholls’s group of runners to four, but Redford was one of those and he gave the trainer his sixth win in the race in the past 11 years.
The field split into two groups and Parisian Pyramid, like Redford owned by Dr Marwan Koukash, led the far-side runners while on the other side of the course it was turning into a private battle between the Nicholls horses as Striking Spirit and Victoire de Lyphar disputed the lead.
Dettori, who was breaking from what should have been the favoured side of the track in stall 17, seemed to have to the worst half of the luck. He was last of near-side pack and, although his horse was travelling ominously well, there looked to be little chance of him managing to pick his way through the nine horses who were in front of him. But Dettori is the ultimate confidence sportsman.
He had already told Nicholls that he would win the race and now he delivered on that bold statement as he somehow managed to weave a diagonal path through horses to lead in the final furlong, beating stable companion Victoire de Lyphar by two-and-a-quarter lengths with Hitchens and Genki in third and fourth.
There is not much that can stop Dettori, who was winning the second year in succession following on from Jimmy Styles 12 months ago, at his best but new airline restrictions almost had him grounded when he tried to make his morning flight to Scotland. “Thank God I made it,” he said. “Apparently Ryanair changed the security. Now a driver’s licence is not good enough, you need a full passport. I had to go back home, get another ticket and I missed my first flight but I made it.”
If the journey to Scotland had been difficult the jockey was less worried about his passage in the race itself. “This horse has got to come late so I wasn’t bothered. He’s trained by the sprint king Dandy Nicholls and when he rang me up for the ride I was delighted and I told him we’d win.”
The rumour is that the rest of the trainers are getting up a petition to the Monopolies Commission about Nicholls – who had won this race with Bahamian Pirate, Continent, Regal Parade and Funfair Wane twice - and who also won the Stewards’ Cup this year with Evens And Odds. However, the odds had started to look to be against him for once when Tajneed had to be withdrawn but Nicholls was never worried about Redford, even when all that Dettori could see was a wall of horses between him and the winning post. “He was always going well,” Nicholls said. “This lad will do well – his next engagement, if he’s alright, will be Ascot next weekend [for the Challnege Cup].”
The first two home were drawn 17 and 24, with third and fourth coming from stalls eight and 11, but the much-discussed draw bias was thrown into doubt an hour before the big race. The Bronze Cup, run of Friday, had been dominated by horses drawn on the stands’ side but that was turned over when Colonel Mak, drawn seven, beat Sonny Red, drawn eight, won the William Hill Ayr Silver Cup.
Manassas led the far-side group until Colonel Mak, who was Phillip Makin's 50th winner of the year, collared him with a half-furlong to run and then held off Sonny Red to win by three-quarters of a length. “It makes you laugh with everything that’s said and, to be honest, I don’t think we [on the far side] were ever not in front,” Makin said. “Manassas took us a great gallop and this lad just picked up nicely off that gallop. He won last time and he just seems to be coming to himself.”
Colonel Mak carried a 5lb for his win at Leicester last month and his trainer, David Barron, said that the best could be yet to come. “You hope but the only thing you could say, looking at him in the paddock, I’ve never had his as well all year. He’s always looked a horse that there’s more to come and I couldn’t get him there. But today he looked tremendous.”
Majestic Dubai, who won the Group Three Laundry Cottage Stud Firth Of Clyde Stakes for Chris Catlin and Mick Channon, could go to Newmarket next month for the Group Two Rockfel Stakes while Dettori made it a double on Vesuve in the Listed Doonside Cup.
By now Dettori was really flying. Forget a passport, this was the first Italian in outer space.
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