Frankie Dettori in Godolphin‘s royal blue silks is one of the most iconic images in racing but there have been indications over the last couple of years that everything in the Dubai garden was no longer rosy and the Italian will split with Sheikh Mohammed‘s multi-million dollar organisation at the end of the year.
At 41, Dettori is in the twilight of his career but it still must have come as a shock to discover he was no longer guaranteed the best rides for his retainer. That honour will go to Mickael Barzalona from 2013 – he’s already ridden two classic winners in England. There may be a job as first rider for Sheikh Fahad, the Qatari royal who has ploughed a large fortune into racing over the past the last three years, though another rumour says that Jamie Spencer has already accepted that post.
Paddy Power have priced up Dettori at 4/1 to switch to Irish bloodstock giant Coolmore but that would make it impossible for him to fulfill his dream of recapturing the British jockeys’ title and it’s unlikely trainer Aidan O’Brien would take kindly to seeing his son Joseph jocked off, though the 19-year-old’s size is increasingly going to mean he can’t make the weight on some of the stable stars. He was too heavy to ride Camelot in this year’s Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe, for example, when Frankie stepped in.
Dettori rode 110 Group One winners among 943 winners for Godolphin in his 18 years as principal jockey. Those included Arc victories on Sakhee and Marienbard as well as Dubai Millennium‘s success in the 2000 Dubai World Cup. He will continue in his job until the end of the calendar year but, at present, is planning to turn freelance after that. Silvestre De Sousa will ride as back-up to Barzalona.
Ladbrokes make Frankie a 14/1 chance to win next year’s jockey’s championship. De Sousa is 6/1 with Stan James and champion-elect Richard Hughes 5/4 with bet365 to triumph again in 2013. You can have 3/1 that Dettori rides a UK classic winner with Ladbrokes and he’s 4/6 with Paddy Power to ride a Group 1 winner in either the UK or Ireland.
