“FRANK” DETTORI JOINS GREAT BRITAIN TEAM FOR THE DUBAI DUTY FREE SHERGAR CUP!
Two days after South African-born Kevin Pietersen leads out the England cricket team for the first time, Frankie Dettori, the Italian superstar of the British racing scene will be representing his adopted homeland in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup.
“I’m delighted to be riding in the Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup again,” said Dettori.
“Obviously I’m changing teams having ridden for Europe last year but I have lived here for 25 years and been British Champion Jockey three times so I think I’m pretty well qualified to join Hayley and Seb on the home team! I’m claiming dual nationality – my Arsenal shirt is my passport!”
With Ryan Moore unable to ride in Saturday’s international jockeys’ competition at Ascot, a vacancy arose for the final place on the Great Britain team.
“Ryan’s confirmation of commitments elsewhere coincided with a call from Frankie’s agent to let us know that Godolphin were unexpectedly able to release him, so everything fell into place really,” said Nick Smith, Head of Public Relations at Ascot.
“Having won all five British Classics, ridden 39 Royal Ascot winners and lived here almost all his working life, if anyone can justifiably claim to have a foot in two camps, Frankie can.
“The reality is that Ascot means Frankie and to most people, Frankie means racing. For a day like the Shergar Cup, with literally thousands of kids and first time racegoers here, we’d be letting people down if we didn’t grab this opportunity to let racing’s greatest public asset take the stage. It’s particularly gratifying and says a great deal about the progress of the event that he is so keen to ride.”
Confirmed Teams:
Great Britain: Hayley Turner (captain), Frankie Dettori, Seb Sanders
Ireland: Jamie Spencer (captain), Richard Hughes, Kevin Manning
Rest of the World: Yutaka Take (captain), Russell Baze, Jorge Ricardo
BALLYDOYLE STARS HOLD THE ACES IN CARTIER RACING AWARDS
Aidan O’Brien’s phenomenal summer continues unabated, a fact reflected in the latest Cartier Racing Awards update. The all-conquering Irish champion trainer extended his Group One tally for the season to a remarkable 17 with the victories of Henrythenavigator and Halfway To Heaven at Glorious Goodwood last week.
Those successes, along with Yeats’s triumphant romp around the Sussex Downs in the Group Two Royal Bank of Scotland Goodwood Cup on Wednesday, Duke Of Marmalade’s battling success in the previous Saturday’s King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and the two-year-old Mastercraftsman’s win in the Group One Phoenix Stakes, sees the Coolmore team holding a strong hand in the race for the Cartier Racing Awards.
Henrythenavigator’s fourth straight Group One success in the BGC Sussex Stakes on Tuesday, July 29, sees the crack miler take a long lead over Derby hero and last year’s Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Award winner New Approach in the Cartier Three-Year-Old colt category, with 136 points against the latter’s 84 points.
Raven’s Pass (58) once again took the runner-up spot at Goodwood, having filled the same berth behind Henrythenavigator in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot. The O’Brien-trained Irish Derby hero Frozen Fire has 56 points, while The Sir Michael Stoute-trained Derby runner-up Tartan Bearer has 52 points.
Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Halfway To Heaven (78) enhanced her reputation as well as her paddock value when stretching her stamina to 10 furlongs with a narrow victory over Lush Lashes (56) in a pulsating climax to the Group One Blue Square Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on August 2.
The O’Brien-trained Pivotal filly leads the way in an ultra-competitive Cartier Three-Year-Old Filly category. Hot on her heels are the French-trained pair of Goldikova (72) and Zarkava (72). The former, trained by Freddie Head, landed the Group One Prix Rothschild at Deauville on August 3, having placed third and second to the Alain de Royer-Dupre-trained Zarkava in the Prix de Diane and Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, respectively. English 1,000 Guineas heroine and last season’s Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly Award winner Natagora was third at Deauville and has 68 points.
Duke Of Marmalade is storming clear in the Cartier Older Horse Division. His fourth Group One in an unbeaten season came at Ascot when, stepped up to a mile and a half for the first time, the four-year-old dug deep to rally and overhaul Papal Bull close home and take his points haul to 152.
The Henry Cecil-trained Phoenix Tower, a runner-up at Group One level on each of his last three starts, has 64 points, the same as Yeats, while Group One Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud victor Youmzain took his running total to 60 when third to Duke Of Marmalade in the King George.
Yeats has truly proved his greatness this season, becoming only the second horse in history to land a hat-trick of victories in the Group One Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, and adding a second Goodwood Cup to his remarkable record. He heads the Cartier Stayer division from old rival Geordieland (40), with the Andre Fabre-trained Coastal Path next best on 36 points.
The Danehill Dancer colt Mastercraftsman made it three wins from three starts in the Group One Phoenix Stakes and leaps to the top of the points table in the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt Award, with 48 points. The O’Brien-trained youngster defeated his nearest challenger, Group Two Coventry Stakes winner Art Connoisseur (32), with ease at the Curragh.
The Richard Hannon-trained Prolific, owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, took his tally to 24 points, with victory in the Group Two Richmond Stakes at Goodwood on August 1, while the Italian-trained Lui Rei (20) enters calculations following his victory in the Group Two Prix Robert Papin at Maisons-Laffitte on July 27.
Cuis Ghaire still tops the table in the Cartier Two-Year-Old Filly Award despite losing her unbeaten tag when second to the O’Brien-trained colt Rip Van Winkle in the Group Three Tyros Stakes on July 24. The Jim Bolger-trained filly has 20 points, while the Mick Quinlan-trained Queen Mary Stakes heroine Langs Lash and the Paul Cole-trained Prix Robert Papin runner-up Percolator both have 16 points.
Marchand D’Or’s scintillating late burst snatched victory in the Group One Darley July Cup at Newmarket on July 11, and the grey gelding leads the Cartier Sprinter division with 48 points, eight more than King’s Stand Stakes victor Equiano. Golden Jubilee Stakes winner Kingsgate Native has 32 points, while War Artist, runner-up in that race and third in the July Cup, has the same total.
Harry Herbert, Cartier’s racing consultant, commented today: "The story of the season so far is undoubtedly the remarkable success of Aidan O’Brien’s team, which continues in devastating form.
"Duke Of Marmalade and Henrythenavigator have already scaled great heights this season but the real superstar, and the one the public has taken to heart, has to be Yeats who received a wonderful reception after his sublime Goodwood Cup victory. It is difficult to envisage the great horse failing to carry off a third Cartier Racing Stayer Award to go with his three Gold Cups at Ascot, but then we can’t write off his own stablemate Septimus, who may prove to be a formidable challenger.
"Goldikova is also worthy of mention as she defeated a strong field to take the Prix Rothschild at Deauville, with Darjina and Natagora filling the places, and it will be fascinating if she renews rivalry with the seemingly awesome Zarkava later in the season.
"Glorious Goodwood left us with fantastic memories and we are already looking forward to York’s Ebor Meeting when there will most certainly be further twists to the narrative of this year’s Cartier Racing Awards."
The Cartier Racing Awards are now in their 18th year and celebrate the champions of the Turf, plus one person. European horseracing’s most prestigious accolades will be presented during a glittering ceremony before an invited audience at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Monday, November 17.
The coveted eight horse awards, horseracing’s equivalent of the Oscars, are determined by points earned in Pattern races combined with the opinions of a panel of racing journalists plus votes from readers of the Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph, a system which accurately rewards supreme excellence.
CARTIER TWO-YEAR-OLD COLT
MASTERCRAFTSMAN 48
ART CONNOISSEUR 32
PROLIFIC 24
LUI REI 20
CARTIER TWO-YEAR-OLD FILLY
CUIS GHAIRE 20
LANGS LASH 16
PERCOLATOR 16
AFRICAN SKIES 9
CARTIER THREE-YEAR-OLD COLT
HENRYTHENAVIGATOR 136
NEW APPROACH 84
RAVENS PASS 58
FROZEN FIRE 56
TARTAN BEARER 52
CARTIER THREE-YEAR-OLD FILLY
HALFWAY TO HEAVEN 78
GOLDIKOVA 72
ZARKAVA 72
NATAGORA 68
LUSH LASHES 56
CARTIER OLDER HORSE
DUKE OF MARMALADE 152
PHOENIX TOWER 64
YEATS 64
YOUMZAIN 60
MARCHAND D'OR 48
CARTIER STAYER
YEATS 64
GEORDIELAND 40
COASTAL PATH 36
ROYAL AND REGAL 20
FINALMENTE 16
CARTIER SPRINTER
MARCHAND D'OR 48
EQUIANO 40
KINGSGATE NATIVE 32
WAR ARTIST 32
FLEETING SPIRIT 24
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