Five of Frankie's finest rides

Ouija Board – 2006 Nassau Stakes

It was a hot renewal of the Nassau Stakes in the summer of 2006 but went down as a truly epic battle between two magnificent mares. Aside from the two battle-hardened mares Ouija Board and Alexandra Goldrun, the race brought together Coronation Stakes winner Nannina and Pretty Polly runner-up Chelsea Rose to name a few.

The confirmed stayer Chelsea Rose set the pace until Frankie Dettori, cognisant that the ten-furlong trip would play into the strengths of his own willing partner, Ouija Board willed the mare to the front more than three furlongs. Jockey, Kevin Manning, was alert to this possibility and aware that his mount Alexander Goldrun excelled in a battle, so moved smoothly through from last place to let his mare eyeball the leader. Ouija Board met that gaze, unflinchingly.

For another furlong the two raced nose for nose, this was something special. The other horses were forgotten. The rest of the world was forgotten. Everything shrank to Alexander Goldrun nearer the stands, Ouija Board on the rail, the eye snapping back and forth between their bobbing heads as the line drew nearer. In the last mad scramble of diminishing yardage Ouija Board found from somewhere the will to make one last mighty effort.

If the judge was trembling as he studied the photo-finish print, he was not alone in that. If everyone had held their breath for two furlongs, they were not letting it out yet. The words were announced across the Downs, 'first, number four, Ouija Board'. A short head and perhaps one of Frankie Dettori’s greatest examples of unwavering strength and determination in the saddle.

The seven-furlong Group 2 Lennox Stakes attracted a quality line-up but preference for Iffraaj was evident in the betting market on day one of the flagship ‘Glorious Goodwood’ meeting. The five-year-old was a shade unlucky not to win the July Cup at Newmarket earlier on in his campaign which only heightened Frankie Dettori’s hunger for success on the Saeed bin Suroor-trained colt.

Travelling strongly from the off, he was marginally caught flat-footed at a crucial point of the race. However, soon galvanised by a flying Frankie Dettori he finished with a flourish to score for the all-conquering operation of Godolphin for which Frankie was employed as retained jockey at the time.

In producing a devastating performance to eclipse his nine rivals and win by four lengths, it provided one of the widest margin victories in the race - a display of unmistakable class.

Frankie Dettori, won his first Stewards' Cup thanks to Magical Memory, and with it landed the top jockey title of the meeting for the fifth successive occasion in 2015.

Sent off the 6-1 favourite, the Charlie Hills-trained three-year-old was drawn in stall one. From a compromised inside draw, it needed both horse and jockey to be brave to take a gap which could so easily have closed, but take it they did and a smart turn of foot at the furlong pole sealed matters. Dettori’s enthusiasm for victory on the biggest stage has always been undiminished, and he gave the crowd a familiarly rapturous response to their cheers in the winner's enclosure, leaping from Magical Memory's saddle in trademark fashion.

In winning, Magical Memory, became a rare three-year-old winner of the famous sprint - the first since Danetime in 1997. Frankie Dettori exclaimed after the ride: "I've been waiting years for this, I've been beaten a few times in this race, but what a horse, very brave.”

Frankie fever was in full flow when top class colt Too Darn Hot gained an emphatic success in the Sussex Stakes.

In a race run at a furious pace, Phoenix Of Spain broke out of the gates faster than a gazelle, the intention to get Too Darn Hot out of his comfort zone clear to see. However, it had the opposite effect. Entering the final two furlongs, Phoenix Of Spain's frenetic early pace began to pay a hefty price, with Circus Maximus looking dangerous on his outside and Too Darn Hot travelling ominously well in behind.

There were two or three strides in the course of the race when a hard-luck story suddenly seemed possible. Too Darn Hot was in a slight pocket and Circus Maximus, who beat him in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, had already struck for home. Dettori, though, was riding like a man who can see into the future and having waited a couple of seconds for some running room away from the rail, he launched Too Darn Hot after his old rival and chased him down with something to spare.

John Gosden's Dubawi colt looked every inch a superstar in the making after rounding off an unbeaten juvenile season with victory in the Dewhurst, but the early part of his three-year-old campaign did not go to plan. His resurgent victory in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood can be widely credited to Frankie Dettori who executed a cool, calm, and calculated ride.

Perhaps Frankie Dettori’s greatest riding partnership in an illustrious career was born during his plethora of stunning victories on star stayer Stradivarius whose record fourth Goodwood Cup came in 2020.

Lining up with a slice of history at stake, Stradivarius had previously shared the honour of three Goodwood Cup wins with Double Trigger who was successful in 1995, 1997 and 1998. Much anticipation surrounded his date with destiny in the race as Nayef Road took the seven-strong field along. He still held the advantage entering the straight, with Stradivarius looking a bit short of room. It was not until inside the final furlong that Stradivarius found the necessary opening and quickened impressively, taking the lead half a furlong out and recording an ultimately cosy length success. The 15/8 second favourite, was the season’s Irish Derby winner Santiago, who held every chance two furlongs out but was unable to quicken in the final furlong and finished third.

Few would have forgotten the atmosphere and gravitas of that scintillating success by horse and jockey had it not been for the Covid pandemic.