Rocco Dettori, Frankie’s youngest son, was never at the races in the Shetland Pony Grand National before racing here on Friday but, when 10-year-old Zak Kent returned to the winner’s enclosure, he executed a very fair attempt at Dettori Sr’s trademark flying dismount. Kent was not born the last time that Dettori took the jockeys’ title but in his moment of triumph the Italian was still the only jockey to imitate.
It is now 27 years since Dettori’s first big win and 21, almost to the day, since he went through the card with all seven winners at Ascot and he is still the only Flat jockey with anything close to a public profile. It could be argued that he is the only rider who actively promotes one – it is hard to imagine Ryan Moore opening a restaurant with Marco Pierre White – but in an age when celebrity can wax and wane in a week Dettori remains ever-present.
And more than ever he is central to this year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, a rider in such demand that Cracksman, who would have been an obvious second-favourite, was taken out of the race earlier this week, in part at least because Dettori, his regular partner, was already committed to Enable. No rider is completely irreplaceable but Dettori comes closer than most.
Much the same could be said of his importance to racing as a whole. There was no flying dismount after his 9-1 win aboard Juliet Capulet in the Rockfel Stakes here on Friday, perhaps understandably after he missed the winning Arc ride on Treve after suffering an ankle injury just a few days before the race four years ago. He sat out Royal Ascot this year with an injury too. But he will not disappoint the fans and photographers if Enable wins on Sunday.
Cracksman could well be Dettori’s partner in next year’s Arc but Enable will probably offer the best chance he will get to win the race for the fifth time and the second time in three years. Earlier in the week he said he was nervous about the prospect but now he is looking forward to yet another moment in the spotlight.
“I was [nervous],” he said here on Friday, “but that’s a normal part of riding the favourite in the big race. It’s great and I love to feel like that. It makes me ride better.
“On Monday and Tuesday I think the Arc fever got to me but once the draw is out and I can start thinking about it I’m much more relaxed and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Dettori rose to the occasion aboard Golden Horn in the Arc two years ago, the last running at its traditional home at Longchamp before the two-year switch to Chantilly. Drawn out wide, he plotted a flawless path round one of the trickiest tracks in the business and, while he is in an inside draw in stall two this time, that can bring its own problems if Enable is slow from the gates. “You’ve got 18 of the best horses in Europe and you’ve got to be on your wits,” Dettori said. “Chantilly can be a bit tricky at times [and] the rain is going to make things more complicated. Sometimes you can land behind some bad horses and that can ruin your chances.”
Fillies and mares have a strong recent record in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe but only those trained in France and given a careful preparation with the season’s showpiece race in mind. No three-year-old filly trained in Britain or Ireland has ever won an Arc but, if Enable is ready and able, she could have no better partner when the stalls crash open.
“She’s been a model of consistency and all her work has been her usual normal stuff,” Dettori said. “She goes on any ground, that’s the great thing about her, and she gets a good pull with the weight for age.
“She’s had a long season and you’ve got to bear that in mind but we’re going to go there pretty much unbeaten and do our best.”
Few jockeys have ever had a sense of theatre to match Dettori’s and few races have a backdrop to rival the extraordinary Grandes Écuries at Chantilly. The stage is set for another tour de force and, if Enable plays her part, Dettori should deliver.
