Frankie Dettori and Sir Michael Stoute are the beleaguered giants of Flat racing and their absence from Derby day tomorrow will be conspicuous. Their standing with the public remains lofty, however, and each recorded hugely popular victories at Sandown Park last night.
Dettori’s accustomed position as first jockey to Sheikh Mohammed may be precarious but his employer was a notable presence — perhaps as a gesture of solidarity — as the Italian was cheered resoundingly after his win on Opinion Poll in the Betfair Henry II Stakes.
Stoute, who began the day a mortifying 44th in the trainers’ championship and will not field a single runner over the next two days at Epsom, then had his moment of acclaim, producing Carlton House, owned by the Queen, for a timely and auspicious success in the Betfair Brigadier Gerard Stakes.
It was hard to assess which result carried most significance. Dettori, having lampooned ludicrous rumours of his retirement, and Stoute, still a monument to training excellence, have nothing to prove to the sane majority in racing yet both will have felt the pressures of neglect.
Dettori, who later completed a double via Cogito in the listed Betfair Heron Stakes, has a special bond with Opinion Poll, as emphasised by his trainer, Mahmood Al Zarooni. “Frankie really understands this horse,” he said. “My job is done now. It’s all about Frankie in the Ascot Gold Cup next.”
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The jockey, who brought Opinion Poll with a smooth run to overwhelm a decent field, added: “He’s a stayer with a turn of foot, a push-button ride, and I love him. I’ve ridden him for four years and I probably know him better than my wife.”
Coral cut the winner from 8-1 to 5-1 for the Gold Cup. Colour Vision, another fine stayer in the Godolphin stable, remains 8-1 but Simon Crisford, the racing manager, warned: “He’s been a sick horse, one of several we have running temperatures. We still hope to get him to Ascot but he won’t be rushed.”
Scarcely had the crowd subsided from Dettori’s celebrations, than they were greeting a royal winner at the start of Diamond Jubilee weekend. A year ago, Carlton House was favourite for the Derby — and he was beaten barely a length in third — but niggling problems had confined him to just one subsequent run.
The sparse form of the Stoute yard inspired no confidence but Carlton House won as an odds-on shot should. Despite running keenly, he galloped to the line once Ryan Moore identified a gap, winning with something in hand.
Stoute reflected ruefully on the foot injury that hampered the colt before the Derby last year. “We were having to ice it from first thing in the morning until ten at night. It compromised him badly,” he said. “His later problems weren’t too serious but they prevented him being trained. He’s been off for 11 months, so there should be improvement to come. We will aim for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes now and I wouldn’t want to go more than ten furlongs for the time being.”
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The absence of classic runners from his retained yard has freed Moore to partner the supposed second string hopes of Aidan O’Brien at Epsom. With the trainer’s son, Joseph, booked for Camelot, the favourite, he will ride Astrology, an emphatic winner at Chester, in the Investec Derby tomorrow.
A field of nine is the lowest for 105 years, largely manipulated by O’Brien in running only two of his five candidates. The classics seem sure to be run on quickish ground, Epsom having missed the localised downpours of recent days.