Kerrygold Irish Oaks (Group 1)

A FRANKIE Dettori front-running masterpiece, whose simplicity masked its brilliance, saw the overseas domination of the Kerrygold Irish Oaks continue in the shape of John Gosden’s Star Catcher.

An interesting and competitive edition of this classic drew together a collection of quality fillies, but ultimately none could match Star Catcher (7/2) whose Royal Ascot triumph in the Ribblesdale Stakes marked her out as a coming force at a mile and a half.

Furthermore, as if any further confirmation was needed, the penultimate Irish classic of the season highlighted just how dangerous Dettori is when he gets the dictate a tempo to suit himself.

Three days previously, the jockey almost worked the oracle twice from the front at Killarney but there was to be no near miss this time as he judged things to perfection on a filly whose victory ensured that just two of the last 11 renewals of this race have been kept at home.

A fifth winner of the race for Dettori and a second in three years for Gosden, Star Catcher was settled, brave and relentless from the front. The pace for this eight-runner affair looked no more than sensible with the result that when Star Catcher struck for home early in the straight she found herself in a decidedly advantageous position.

Inside the last quarter of a mile, the Anthony Oppenheimer-owned daughter of Sea The Stars had a lead of several lengths and this always looked likely to see her fend off the late charge of Fleeting.

The latter, who was third in last month’s Oaks at Epsom, finished strongly but she was still half a length adrift at the line.

There was a gap of four and a half lengths back to the Epsom second and favourite Pink Dogwood, while the lightly-raced Search For A Song posted a fine effort to secure fourth.

“Firstly, I must say that her owner Mr Oppenheimer was brave to pay the supplementary fee and, secondly, Frankie was very good on her. Frankie was fully aware that her last furlong at Ascot was her strongest and he was determined to ensure that it didn’t turn into a falsely run race today,” said Gosden.

“She’s a fabulous filly who has really come forward since Ascot and this looked the obvious race to aim towards with her. It’s a classic, a Group 1 and a great race, and it’s great to see an Irish sponsor like Kerrygold backing this race.

“I wouldn’t think that she will drop back from a mile and a half, and maybe the Prix Vermeille would be a clever race to aim towards, and later in the year we could move her up a couple of furlongs for the Prix de Royallieu.

“In terms of the jockey, we are just lucky to have him. He’s obviously a gorgeous rider and just a wonderful person to be around.”

It was Dettori’s eighth Group 1 winner since the end of May, six of them for Gosden. In his post-race debrief the winning trainer also raised a very salient point regarding the fact that the Irish classics close too early.

“I keep saying that they close these races too early and that’s why I never have entries in them. I would really prefer if they closed these races a little later and then I could enter some horses in them,” he said.