Frankie Dettori reaches landmark century for Godolphin
If it’s Sunday it must be Rome.
Having ridden in four different countries, on the three continents, in just nine days Frankie Dettori rolled into Rome looking just a shade tired having clocked up more flight miles than most airline pilots. But he still managed one of his flying dismounts.
He had been rained on at Flemington on Tuesday, when Holeberg finished sixth in the Melbourne Cup and had spent two days often chewing dirt and turf at Churchill Downs at the Breeders’ Cup until Dangerous Midge won the Turf.
It was a 10th Breeders’ Cup winner for the Italian who hit another notable landmark when Rio de la Plata won the Premio Roma at Capannelle. It was Dettori’s 100th Group or Grade One winner for Godolphin.
Dettori had Rio de la Plata, who was the jockey’s 99th Group One winner in the royal blue silks in the Premio Vittorio Di Capua at San Siro last month, in mid-division until he worked his way through the field down the home straight.
Rio de la Plata collared the long-time leader Voila Ici to win by two-and-a-half lengths and is a further reward for the patience of trainer Saeed bin Suroor. The colt won the Group One Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp as a two-year-old but did not win again for another two-and-a-half years, but he has since taken the two Group Ones in Italy and only missed out on a third, the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp in September, by a head to Fuisse.
Diana Cooper, representing Godolphin, said: “That was a fabulous performance from Rio de la Plata today and the horse really is going from strength to strength at the moment. The horse travelled supremely well and nothing was ever going to beat him today.
“It was fantastic for Frankie to get his 100th Group One winner for Godolphin in such emphatic style today. Everyone at Godolphin is delighted – it is a tremendous achievement. We’re not sure where Rio de la Plata will go next. We’ll take him home and see where we go from there. The horse is in such fantastic form at the moment so hopefully we can find something for him.”
There are times recently when Godolphin have not appeared to be in fantastic form but it is a credit to their realism, in terms of what level they pitch their horses, that Dettori achieved his century on his 547th ride in a championship race for them.
Dettori began his century run riding Balanchine in the Oaks in 1994, one of 17 in European Classics, that he has won for Sheikh Mohammed’s stable.
Picking out the highlights from those 100 winners might be akin to making a selection from a vintage cellar but the stunning victory of Dubai Millennium in the Dubai World Cup of 2000 cannot be far from the top of the rider’s list. And not far behind would be the victory of Daylami in the 1999 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Gulfstream which went a long way to expunging the memory of his third place on Swain in the Classic 12 months previously which drew criticism from some quarters – not least Dettori himself.
However, the 39-year-old has always looked forward rather than back and next Flat season offers rich promise.
The victories of White Moonstone, in the Group One Fillies’ Mile at Ascot, and Saamidd, in the Group Two Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, meant that Godolphin went into winter quarters with solid Classic prospects. But they have been augmented by both Casamento, on whom Dettori won the Group One Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster two weeks ago, and the highly-rated Dubai Prince, both of whom will be switching from the current Irish stables to run under the Godolphin banner next year.
Should be enough to keep Dettori flying high.
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