Dettori in Derby dreamland as Lawman takes Prix du Jockey-Club
Dettori had arrived at the Paris venue in relaxed mood after steering Authorized around the famous Surrey Downs to capture the blue riband for the first time at the 15th attempt.
And he oozed confidence on Jean-Marie Beguigne’s charge as punters on both sides of the English Channel steamed into his mount and sent him off the 4-1 joint-favourite.
Although the race was delayed by a false start, once it got going for real his legions of supporters were always involved in the action, with Dettori setting out to dictate matters from the front.
The Italian – only riding the winner as regular rider Olivier Peslier was claimed for No Dream – kicked again turning for home and wound things up down the straight for a comprehensive length-and-a-half success.
Literato flew from out of the pack but was always playing second fiddle, with British raiders Raincoat, Halicarnassus, Medicine Path and Sunshine Kid all failing to cut any ice in company with Aidan O’Brien’s Chinese Whisper and Alexander Of Hales.
Dettori’s victory may have been his third in the race following the successes of Polytain in 1992 and Shamardal two years ago, but it rates by far his most significant.
He said: “I am going to have some headache tomorrow morning. Winning yesterday gave me more confidence today without a doubt.
“It was very hard for me to judge the race as I didn’t really know the horse, but Olivier and the trainer gave me great confidence.
“I thought if I can get a breather in round the turn and then drop the hammer down the straight, I will be very hard to catch.
“It was always my plan to lead and the trainer had told me to ride him how I wanted.
“I knew if he ran like he felt I would be OK and I knew when I kicked that it was over.
“I don’t feel a thing any more, and I don’t know what to think – I don’t even know what is going on!
“This is just so surreal and crazy. People wait all their lives to win a Derby and I win two in 24 hours.”
Dettori, who went through the card with seven winners at Ascot in 1996, plans to return to the saddle at a low-key meeting tomorrow.
He added: “The Magnificent Seven was unique, but these are major races, and I am sure I will have a headache at Windsor tomorrow night!”
There were tense moments after his trademark flying dismount, however, when he was whisked off to the stewards’ room to face an inquiry.
Dettori explained: “I fell off during the parade and then got back on, but I could feel he was uncomfortable so I broke off from the parade.
“The stewards asked me why I had broken the parade so I told them it was because I had fallen off.
“I got off after the false start too as the others left me and the horse wasn’t keen to go back to the start.”
Dettori had a night on the town to celebrate with Authorized’s trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam after his Epsom heroics, but was planning to be slightly more reserved in the wake of this success.
He said with a smile: “I might just stay in with my parents tonight, but we can still have a few drinks on the way home!
Beguigne said: “I am full of emotion, conflicting ones to a certain extent, but I would like to congratulate all my team, because they have done a fantastic job in getting the horse here. It has been a wonderful day.”
One of the horse’s owners, Claudio Marzocco, had watched the race chewing gum furiously before erupting into ecstatic howls of joy.
“I have lost my head completely,” said Marzocco.
“Dettori is magnificent and I was of course hoping he would do it.
“It is a victory for all the team and for Frankie to have doubled this weekend has seen him pass into the history books.”
Jean-Claude Rouget, the trainer of the runner-up, took his defeat with a certain air of resignation as he still searches desperately for his maiden Classic success.
“I am pretty relaxed about it to be honest,” said Rouget. “However, the false start was ridiculous and should never have happened. It really makes me angry when the team have prepared a horse for months, weeks and days for a particular race.”
