IT is rare that Frankie Dettori isn’t in the mix for “jockey of the season” but it’s been so unequivocal this year that his successes are hard to keep track of. Star Catcher’s victory in the Irish Oaks at the Curragh on Saturday was Dettori’s eighth Group 1 in only two months and, if the sectionals are anything to go by, he made all the difference.

Despite the stiffness of the track, the curiosity of the Curragh is that it favours front-runners.