Frankie Dettori admitted yesterday that his broken shoulder should have kept him out of action for three months and that he was in agony when he rode in both the French and Irish Oaks.
Dettori, who confirmed yesterday that he will be reunited with Big Orange for the Goodwood Cup on August 1, returned to the saddle sooner than he should have done to ride Enable to victory at the Curragh on Saturday and secure an Oaks double on the John Gosden-trained filly.
He was hurt when thrown from a horse in the paddock at Yarmouth on June 13. Five days later he partnered Shutter Speed in the Prix de Diane — the French Oaks — at Chantilly to finish fourth. He knew he had suffered a serious injury but refused to have an X-ray in the hope that he could “kid himself” that he would be fit for Royal Ascot the next week.
When the extent of the injury was revealed, he pulled out of the royal meeting on the first morning. His surgeon told him he should rest and recover for three months. “I told him I cannot afford to,” Dettori said. “I told him instead you can have three weeks! In the end it’s been 35 days.”
Dettori is still nursing himself back to full fitness. At present he can only manage two or three rides in a day. Such were his exertions in Ireland that he is taking much of the next fortnight off to focus on physiotherapy, swimming and riding out to ensure that he is in prime condition for Glorious Goodwood, which begins a fortnight today.
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“I came back to ride Enable but probably came back too early,” Dettori continued. “But she was my inspiration for coming back. The rehab is so boring, but all the hard work was forgotten when she won.”
Big Orange, who won a thrilling Gold Cup, was one of several big-race victories the 46-year-old missed at Ascot. He watched from afar as James Doyle produced a superb ride to thwart Order Of St George. However, hopes of a repeat duel were dashed yesterday when Aidan O’Brien said that his charge will miss Goodwood as part of a midsummer break.