Dettori confident he’ll be fit for Derby after freak injury
The Italian fractured a bone in his left hand in a bizarre incident before the Mitsubishi Diamond Vision Handicap, where a pheasant flew out of a tree and caused his mount Chinkara to spook on the way to post.
He was taken to hospital for X-rays, but returned to the track afterwards.
Dettori explained: "The horse got scared and whipped round left. I got it (his hand) caught, heard a crack and you fear the worst I thought it would be a three-week thing and I'd miss the Derby.
"But I'll be back for the Derby, don't worry about that.
"I have fractured a little bone at the base of my little finger it is a hairline fracture and I am going to see the specialist tomorrow.
"I would say I would be out for a week to 10 days."
Dettori, who is expected to partner UltimateBet.com 1000 Guineas runner-up Sundrop in the Vodafone Oaks on June 4 and 2000 Guineas second Snow Ridge in the Derby the following day, has never won the colts' Classic.
The nearest he has come to landing that elusive success in the blue riband was in 1995 on Tamure, who finished second to Lammtarra. He has, however, won the Oaks three times on Balanchine (1994), Moonshell (1995) and Kazzia (2002).
Though he will console himself that it took Sir Gordon Richards 28 attempts to break his Derby duck, the clock is ticking for the 33-year-old, who has said his greatest goal is to win the Derby by the time his is 40.
While Epsom remains his immediate target, he also wants to maintain his early lead in the title race.
"It is a shame," he added.
"I have a nice lead in the jockeys' championship and I'll obviously try my best to win it this year and, though I don't fly in planes as much as I used to, I am getting a lot of good support from a lot of people."
Meanwhile, John Gosden has ruled out any chance of Day Flight being supplemented for the Derby.
The Sadler's Wells colt, which is owned by Khalid Abdullah, burst onto the scene with a 20-length success in the Glasgow Stakes at York last week.
"He won't be supplemented. I thought the bookmakers were silly quoting prices to be honest," said the Manton trainer.
"I thought we made it quite clear afterwards. He's still learning and I don't think Epsom is the course for him at this stage of his career."
