Frankie wows Lingfield faithful
Frankie Dettori blew into Lingfield with a brilliant 486-1 treble, highlighted by a second consecutive success in the Littlewoods Bet Direct Winter Derby.
Riding Caluki for Italian-based trainer Luigi Camici, Dettori brought the 14-1 winner between his rivals to lead right on the line and deny front-running Anani (12-1) by a neck.
Bustan (9-1), who had raced prominently throughout, was just a head further back in third.
With the course gripped by a howling gale, horses ridden close to the pace were clearly seen to best advantage and Dettori rode an undoubtedly canny race on the winner.
Fabrizio Camici, the son and assistant of winning trainer Luigi, said: “Two thousand metres (a mile and a quarter) is the limit for this horse and Frankie gave him an excellent ride.
“It wasn’t a good pace but he knew the track, kept him near the pace, asked the horse at the right moment and he answered.
“Now there is a race in Rome for him (the Circo Massimo Grand Prix on April 18) and then one in Sweden (Pramms Memorial at Jagersro on May 6). He will keep going because he is in good form.”
Camici revealed that Caluki had completed the four-day journey from his Milan base entirely by road.
“We stopped one night in Turin and another in Chantilly – we are not rich people, we are not sheikhs and he is a seven-year-old who is very experienced and a good traveller,” he said.
“He gets the whole of the box to himself and doesn’t have a problem with long journeys.”
Dettori, who won this race 12 months ago on Parasol, revealed that he and Camici jnr were old friends.
“Fabrizio spent some time with me when we were with Luca Cumani and he knows how to get a horse ready,” he beamed after spraying the crowd with celebratory champagne.
“I knew that he would be fit today and he put his head in front at just the right time for me.
“It’s great to be back home again, although the change of climate from Dubai comes as a bit of a shock to the system!”
Even a one-day suspension (March 31) collected for using his whip without giving his mount time to respond was unable to take the smile off Dettori’s face.
The Italian’s band of followers had already been treated to another good-priced success – and a course record too – as No Time edged out Speed Cop in a photo-finish for the ladbrokes.com Sprint.
A late booking for the Mark Polglase stable, Dettori led after a furlong on the 12-1 chance and keeping tightly to the rails held off the challenge of the 9-2 runner-up by a short-head.
Polglase paid tribute to Yvette Dixon, wife of the colt’s owner Paul, who helped nurse No Time back to health after he suffered a stress fracture after a broken leg sustained last year.
“We had to be very patient and never really thought he would come back to being as good as he was but that was a very good performance,” he said.
“He still has a metal plate in his leg from where he was pinned.
“I put him in a handicap at Doncaster this week and he wouldn’t look too badly treated on this form, even with a penalty. But he has to have quick ground on turf so we would need a dry spell to start tomorrow if he is going to go there.”
Dettori, who returns to Dubai tomorrow to prepare for the World Cup meeting, deflected praise for his winning ride.
“It was a course record but it’s so windy out there I got blown all the way home,” he said.
The treble was completed when American-bred Rosencrans, the 6-4 favourite, followed up a recent Nad al Sheba success with a hard-fought win over Fokine in the ladbrokes.com Spring Cup.
After riding in next Saturday’s big race, Dettori will return to Britain in time to ride at Windsor on Monday week.
Bunditten bounced out and made all to win the first race for two-year-olds of the year, the Axminster Carpets Juvenile Conditions Stakes.
The Andrew Reid-trained daughter of Soviet Star was a model of good behaviour at the start as some of her rivals played up and delayed proceedings.
And in the race she also blew the opposition away with a fine burst of early pace, making every yard to beat I’m Aimee by half a length, despite hanging right throughout the final stages – possibly because she was distracted by the nearby camera car.
By his own admission, owner-trainer Reid usually spends “about five or six thousand at most” on his new purchases.
So at 36,000 guineas, Bunditten certainly weighs in at among the most expensive ever.
However she still looks cheap judged on the evidence of this performance.
“A lot of the credit for this must go to Martin Dunne, who has done a very good job in getting her to settle down at home,” said Reid.
“She always showed an awful lot of speed and the aim is the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot, although I really don’t know if she will be good enough for that.
“When she first came to us she was like a ballet dancer she was jumping around so much.”
What-A-Dancer put his head in front to win the betdirect.co.uk Handicap under Robert Winston.
Well beaten in the Royal Lodge Stakes on his latest start, Over The Rainbow appreciated the massive drop in class he enjoyed in the Lingfield Park Maiden Stakes.
“Hopefully he will keep improving later in the season as he is by Rainbow Quest. He has a Derby entry but that might be a bit ambitious,” said winning trainer Barry Hills.
The other maiden went to the Brian Meehan-trained Wake, who shrugged off an 18-month absence from the track to take the opener under Pat Smullen.
