sport news Frankie Dettori wins just hours after shock split from Gosden stable - and vows ... trends now
Frankie Dettori says he intends to ride until at least the end of the 2023 Flat season, as the shockwaves prompted by his split with the stable of John and Thady Gosden spread through racing.
News of the professional divorce emerged on Friday evening but with the impeccable timing that has been a hallmark of Dettori’s 35-year career, the Italian won on his only ride at Newmarket on Saturday when the Ralph Beckett-trained Lezoo landed the Listed Maureen Brittain Memorial Empress Stakes.
The crowd, which had applauded Dettori into the paddock, gave him a rousing reception on his return to the winner’s enclosure and were treated to the 51-year-old jockey’s trademark flying dismount — a celebration normally restricted to Group One race wins.
Frankie Dettori (above) says he intends to ride until at least the end of the 2023 Flat season
On Saturday it appeared an action laced with symbolism — a reaction saying, ‘Don’t write me off’. Dettori said: ‘I’m not going to retire. I’m definitely intend to ride this year and next year and after that I don’t know.
‘I’m riding in Instanbul tomorrow in the Derby. I’m suspended most of next week but I’ll ride in the German Derby the week after that. Then I am going to America for Charlie Appleby and have a couple of weekends in Belmont and possibly Saratoga, so I am pretty busy in the next month.
‘So if you don’t see me riding it is not because I am retiring it is because I am abroad.
‘It is a new start and we will take it a step at a time. I will be back King George week and then on to (Glorious) Goodwood.
The 51-year-old shows off his trademark flying dismount at Royal Ascot last week
‘Me and John had a meeting yesterday and we decided to give each other a break — a sabbatical. We are still good friends. For what John has done for me in the past I will forever be grateful but at the moment we have decided it is better for the pair of us to be apart.’
The term sabbatical was also used by Gosden in his statement after he had met with Dettori on Friday.
But it hard to find anyone who believes that normal relations will be resumed after heads have cleared, and Dettori is privately said to be devastated.
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