Horse & Hound – 08 August 2019

8 August 2019 Horse&Hound 73

Pictures

by

PA

Wire/PA

Images,

Getty

Images

and

Bill

Selwyn

FrankieDettoricelebratesa winonTooDarnHotintheQatarSussexStakeswithhistrademarkdismount

secondis threepartswritten—he

is uptherewithYeats,Ardross

andLeMoss.

Heswitchesoffinhisraces

and,if theytrytobeathimfor

speed,heoutsprintsthem.If

theytrytodohimforstamina,he

outstaysthemandneverwinsby

far,sohenevergetsa hardrace,

whichis whyheis theperfect

horsetokeepwinningthe£1m

bonus.Theoretically,it wouldnot

bepossiblewitha horsewhokept

givingitselfa hardrace.

Therefore,theraceonTuesday,

30 July,wentverysmoothlyfor

him.DettorislipstreamedCross

Counteruntilthetwo-furlong

pole,pulledhimoutandswept

pastDeeExBeeandwenta length

up.Theonlyhiccupwasthat

thejockeycelebrateda littletoo

soon—Stradivariusreckonedhe

haddoneenoughandpulledup,

allowingDeeExBeetogetbackto

withina neckattheline.

“Whenyoustopriding,the

handbrakegoesonandyougo

overthehandlebars,”quipped

Gosdenafterwards.

Dettoriadded:“Stradivarius

feltbrillianttoday.I wanted

tofollowJamesDoyle[on

CrossCounter]andit waslike

theTourdeFrance—hetook

meintotherace.I celebrated

10 yardstoosoonbut what a

beautifulhorse.”

‘HISREPUTATION

ISBACK’

TOODARNHOT,lastseason’s

championtwo-year-old,is nothing

ifnottough.Hebouncedback

tohisbestaftera difficultfirst

halfoftheseasontobeatCircus

Maximusa cosyhalfa lengthin

the£1mQatarSussexStakes.

Dettoriwasa littlebithemmed

intwoout,butit wasprobably

a blessingindisguisebecauseit

meanthecouldnotgetinto

a prolongedslogwiththe

runner-up—who,havingfinished

sixthintheDerby,clearlystays

further.However,whenit opened

up for Too Darn Hot, he used his

turnoffoottodevastatingeffect,

shootingpasttheStJames’s

Palacewinner.

Thethree-year-oldshavenot

reallyshownupthisseason.But

onthebackofthisrace—three

outofthefirstfourwerefromthe

Classicgeneration—thatis an

improvement,andTooDarnHot’s

chancesofalsobeinga champion

atthreetooka bigstepinthe

rightdirection.

“Frankieknewthatit would

gettight,”saidGosden,a provider

ofnineofDettori’s 11 GroupOne

winnerssincethestartofJune.

“Isaid,‘Justbepatientandif

youdon’tgetthroughpeople,

I willunderstand,’butAndrea

Atzeni’shorsegottiredandhe

gotthrough.

“Sevenfurlongsis probably

hisbesttripbutthestiffmile

atTheCurraghandthestiff

mileatAscot,withrain,caught

himout.We’vebeensoopen

abouthim—hemissedthe

Greenham,missedtheGuineas,

should never have run in the

Danteandthenwerushedhim

backforIreland.”

Headded:“We’vedone

nothingbutgetit wrong,soit’s

wonderfultohavehimbackand

provethatit wasnoflukehe

waschampionattwo.However,

AidanO’BrienranCircus

MaximusintheDerbysowecan

allmakemistakes!”

Dettorisaid:“He’sbeen

unluckyforalltheobviousreasons

buthehada goodrunatthis.He

wasworkingwellandgettinghis

headinfrontinFrance[inthe

QatarPrixJeanPrat]didhim

good.Buthe’sfinallygota proper

GroupOneinthiscountryand

hisreputationis backtowhereit

shouldbe.Oncehehittopgear,I

knewtheracewasover.

“I’mhavinganamazingrun,

notjustwinningGroupOnesbut

alsomammothracesliketheKing

George,theGoldCupandthe

Eclipse.Johnjustputsthemon

a plateformeandI dotherest.

WhenI cameintothepaddock

today I said, ‘I’ll need a heart

transplantbytheendoftheweek,’

andhesaid,‘Shutup, you love it.’

Maybehe’sright.”

RIDINGFROM

INSTINCTPAYSOFF

A WHITEWASHofthethree

GroupOnesatGoodwoodfor

GosdenandDettoriintheNassau

StakeswashaltedbyDeirdrewho,

afterAgnesWorldtooktheJuly

Cupin2000,becameonlythe

second-everJapanesewinneron

theseshores.

IfBritishracingis keento

attractinternationalcompetition,

particularlyfromJapan,it is

essentialtheywina few,soit

wasanimportantresultforboth

BritishandJapaneseracing.

Afairlyseasonedtraveller,

havingbeentoHongKongtwice,

Dubaiandhereforthreemonths,

Deirdrehadoriginallycomeover

forthePrinceofWales’sStakes

atRoyalAscot.ButJapanese

horsesdonotoftenencounter

softgroundathomeandshegot

stuckinthemudthere.However,

despitebeingignoredbyBritish

punters,onGoodwood’sperfect

summergroundsheflourished.

Dettorisetofftomakeallthe

runningonMehdaayihbutRyan

Moorewasequallydetermined

todothesamethingonAidan

O’Brien’sdualGuineaswinner,

Hermosa.AlthoughDettori

eventuallywontheargument

aftertwofurlongs,it probablycost

Mehdaayihatthebusinessend

asDeirdre,underOisinMurphy,

stayedonwelltopickherupabout

100 yardsoutandsweeppastto

winbya lengthanda quarter.

“I’msogladtheJapanesehave

broughta horsehereandshehas

performed,”saidMurphy.“I’ve

been telling people since I came

Japanese horse Deirdre goes on to triumph under Oisin Murphy (red cap) in the Qatar Nassau Stakes