‘I’ve won all the other classics but this is the one I’ve always wanted. My dad was in tears after finishing fifth on the favourite Wollow in 1976, and my mum says it was the only time she ever saw him cry.’
Frankie Dettori after winning the Derby on Authorized in 2007.
Dettori and the Derby. Flat racing’s McCoy and the Grand National. A dream that turned into a pursuit that turned into an obsession that could just as easily have turned into a nightmare.
Yet in the end, it was all so easy. Authorized sauntered around Epsom as if he was in a maiden, cantering up to his rivals in the straight before quickening clear to win by five lengths. Peter Chapple-Hyam’s colt was an excellent Derby winner, but the limelight was Dettori’s.
Even by the Italian’s own standards, this was pure, unadulterated joy brought to a new level because winning the Derby was everything.
He screamed to himself as passed the line, later explaining that he wanted to make sure the moment was real. Then, he broke tradition, and galloped his horse back in front of the stands, savouring every second.
Just after he got off the colt in the winners’ circle, he embraced his father Gianfranco, the pair kissed and hugged each other. He then needed a police escort just to get him through the crowd and into the weighroom, where he kneeled down on the scales, as if to pay homage to the racing gods for allowing it all to happen.
From here, he ran into the jockeys changing rooms, shouting: “Davey, get the f****n bubbly open!” before lifting up Mick Kinane in a bear hug. In fact, anyone in his vicinity got a hug.
Racing could have spent millions on press relations and not came up with a better moment.
That was Dettori’s 15th attempt to win the Derby. Uniquely John Gosden gave him his first ride on Pollen Count as a teenager in 1992. He was well held on that occasion but went so close to winning the race at only the fourth time of asking three years later, when he led on Tamure inside the final furlong only to be picked off late by the Walter Swinburn-ridden Lammtarra.
He finished third on Shantou the following year, but never truly looked like winning from a held up position and it was a similar case on Tobougg in 2001, who could only get to just under fourth lengths within Galileo to finish third again.
Following Authorized, the best Dettori could manage in his next four Derbys was a third on Rewilding in 2011, before his troubles off the track developed. He received a six-month ban after testing positive for a prohibited substance while riding in France and though he came back in May 2013, he didn’t have a Derby ride that season or the next, meaning it was three years in all without a ride in his beloved race.
He must have wondered if he’d have another chance, let alone winner, because needless to say, plenty of people would have done that for him. It was an easy conclusion to draw for a 44-year-old.
Then came Golden Horn and John Gosden. The Dante winner was sent off 13/8 for Dettori and in a near carbon copy to Authorized, he came with a devastating run down the outside to see off his stablemate Jack Hobbs easily.
It was a huge win and paved the way for a relationship with Gosden that featured great moments on Enable, Stradivarius, Palace Pier, Cracksman and many more. Dettori was reborn.
He came close to a third on Cracksman in 2017 but his other rides have disappointingly not lived up to their pre-race expectations.
Arrest, the Chester Vase winner, isn’t at all bulletproof, but has a live chance in open race for another golden Dettori-Derby moment.
“I’ve got nothing to prove,” Dettori said this week. “I’m on a horse that I wouldn’t swap for anything else in the race. There’s nothing in there that would interest me enough to jump off Arrest.
“He’s proven, he stays and I think I come into the race with as good a chance as anything in the field.”
UNFORTUNATELY, the build up to this year’s Derby has been somewhat marred by a significant worry about the staging of the race due to the threat of protest from the activist movement Animal Rising, who have repeatedly claimed it will send 1,000 protestors to Epsom today.
Their aim will be to prevent the race from happening, a shuddering thought, and while The Jockey Club, who own Epsom, have had plenty of time to prepare, the topography of Epsom racecourse makes that defence significantly more difficult than was the case at Aintree.
Crucially, although some will argue the extent of which, the Jockey Club succeeded in implementing an injunction last week. In simple terms, the court order has made it illegal for members of Animal Rising and other “persons unknown” to get onto the track except at authorised crossing points.
Activists
While that will probably not stop the activists, it will make it easier to prosecute those arrested which may dissuade a portion of the group from ducking under the rails. There were 115 arrests made at Aintree and 25 at the Scottish Grand National meeting at Ayr.
The Jockey Club have also spent £150,000 on security arrangements, so they are probably as organised as they can be, though such is the unknown strength of the protest, the only real test of the procedures will come close to the race’s earlier start time of 1.30pm.
Speaking to GB News this week, Animal Rising spokesperson Nathan McGovern said: “What this is about at its heart is the fact that as long as animals are used and exploited and we have this broken relationship with them and the natural world, there are going to be people who are willing to put their bodies on the line to prevent that harm.”
Despite that threatening statement, Animal Rising have seemingly drawn a line at disrupting the race while it is on-going, unlike the infamous Suffragette Derby of 110 years ago when the militant suffragette Emily Davison walked onto the track and collided with King George V’s horse Anmer. Davison died in hospital four days later as a result of the injuries she suffered.
To a lesser extent, the move to bring the Derby forward to 1.30pm, so to avoid a clash with the ITV1 television coverage of today’s later than usual FA Cup Final, has led to criticism. Just one race will take place before the Derby, so the crescendo effect will be lost.
Rail strikes are also expected to cause headaches for people travelling to Epsom. Train companies have warned that services will be “severely reduced” as their workers continue their ongoing battles for better pay, jobs and working conditions. Rail strikes were pointed to as one of the main reasons for a significant drop in attendance on the third day of the Cheltenham Festival in March.