A second Derby victory for Frankie Dettori, eight years after he broke his duck here on another hot favourite in Authorized, was the entirely predictable cue for bookmakers everywhere to throw up their hands in dismay and compete to claim the greatest losses. “Frankie is the only jockey the whole world and his dog knows and his win means the bookies have done their absolute conkers,” was the most colourful quote on offer, from Paddy Power.
Another firm claimed Dettori had “single-handedly smashed the bookies”, while estimates of the total loss sustained by the betting industry varied from tens of millions in one press release to £10m from Ladbrokes down to around half that, depending on the identity of the speaker. But a couple of firms were prepared to take the long view.
Bet365 pointed to the shock results in the weekend’s two other major races, achieved by horses at odds of 50-1 and 11-1, and reported they had made a net profit over the two days of action here. Had the Oaks favourite, Legatissimo, managed to hold on to her lead through the dying strides, Bet365 would have had to pay out on some “hefty” doubles placed on her and Golden Horn in recent weeks.
Dettori’s win will, in the long run, be good news for the sport and for betting, according to Betfred. “Golden Horn has cost us a fortune,” they said in a statement, “but, when the dust settles, we’ll look back at one of the great results for racing. Frankie will be on the front of every newspaper on Sunday and that’s the kind of coverage money can’t buy.”
William Hill’s loss on the race was said to be just over £1m, rather less than the firm had been anticipating in the event of the Italian jockey coming home in front. Their spokesman, Jon Ivan-Duke, suggested Dettori “perhaps doesn’t have the resonance with the public that he once did”.
Pressed as to why that might be, Ivan-Duke said: “I think maybe just because he hasn’t had the opportunities over the last few years that he had in his prime Godolphin years. And since then he’s been through somewhat of a barren patch and maybe punters have switched off from him and turned to the likes of Ryan Moore. He’s certainly still very popular. You only have to look at his flying dismount and the cheers to see how many people had backed Frankie this year. We’ve taken approximately 50,000 bets on Golden Horn today, so you’d expect, industry-wide, that would be about 300,000. So that’s 300,000 people up and down the country who were cheering Frankie.”
They will get the chance to do so again on Sunday, as Dettori is booked for a single ride … assuming his professionalism proves stronger than the need to celebrate a Derby victory as it should be celebrated. The outcome of that particular struggle seemed in some doubt at the post-race press conference, when the jockey announced: “I might not turn up at Goodwood tomorrow,” while mugging furiously at reporters and gesturing at John Gosden, trainer of both the Derby winner and Dettori’s intended ride at Goodwood.
Gosden did not speak but wore the face of a man inclined to insist on prior engagements being fulfilled. A tall man who speaks with total authority, the trainer can have a headmasterly bearing and doubtless there have been times when he has had to explain to Dettori, 20 years his junior, the course of action which would be best for him. But their relationship is a warm one and it plainly gives Gosden great pleasure to have helped Dettori back to racing’s summit.
The worked together before the Italian decamped to Godolphin two decades ago and now appear to have fallen back into their old alliance with great ease. “He’s been very constructive in my career, also as a friend and father figure,” Dettori said. “And now we’re good mates and I’m really, really enjoying my work with him this year.”
For his part, Gosden praised the jockey’s skill in bringing Golden Horn swiftly under control after the inexperienced horse had been too keen through the early stages “It was a great ride,” he said. “These things are meant to look simple, it could have been a complete mess if he’d gone half an hour too soon or let him roll up there with the pace. But he did it all right.”
