Without a doubt, Frankie Dettori is considered to be one of the greatest jockeys of all time. He ranks up there with some other infamous riders, including Lester Piggott, Tony McCoy and Jerry Bailey. Yet, what is it that has pushed him to that position? What are some of his most famous victories in the horse racing world? We're going to take a look at some of them here.
It's clear that the Italian jockey's most celebrated
achievement is that he rode all seven winning horses on British Champions' Day
at Ascot in 1996. In fact, it was that series of wins (nicknamed the
Magnificent Seven) which saw bookmakers lose an estimated £40 million to punters
who had placed accumulator bets on him achieving just that outcome. Can you
imagine if someone had used something like the Bwin bonus to start out
their betting journey and had wagered on Frankie Dettori claiming all seven
victories back then? Granted, the bonus is a maximum of £10 in free bets at
Bwin, but that wouldn't stop it from building up a wonderful accumulator for
someone.
Dettori accredits much of his own fame and fortune to the 1996 Magnificent Seven
victory, even self-describing it as the most outstanding accomplishment of his
riding career. Yet, there have been other occasions where he has stood out as
being a master jockey on the course.
For example, prior to winning that magnificent event in
1996, he had claimed a win in 1994 – the victory of Balanchine in the Epsom
Oaks. This actually stands out as being Dettori's very first British Classic
win. Balanchine had only been beaten by a short-head in the 1,000 Guineas at
Newmarket that year, and the running style of the horse suggested that it would
be even better over the mile-and-a-half at Epsom. And how right those thoughts
were. She went on to win by two-and-a-half lengths, making her the first
Classic winning horse for Godolphin.
Dettori's Other Big Wins
A more recent large victory by Dettori took place in 2015,
when he won the Derby by riding Golden Horn. That horse had previously beaten
stable companion Jack Hobbs by two-and-three-quarter lengths in the Dante
Stakes, which took place in York. Owners of the horse paid out £75,000 in order
to supplement him for Epsom, and he started out as a favourite at 13-8,
garnering plenty of support. It didn't take long for Golden Horn to prove himself,
winning the Eclipse Stakes, Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Dettori stated that Golden Horn was probably the best horse he'd ever ridden,
at the time.
It would also be remiss for us to omit Dettori's victory at
the Coronation Cup in 2018. There, he rode Cracksman and secured himself a
fifth win in the Group 1 event. This was the
second time Cracksman had won the Coronation Cup, having finished in first
place the previous year. Despite the fact that many thought the horse would
secure an easy victory in this race, he didn't actually gain a head until the
closing strides. Following on from that event, Cracksman soared to the finish
line to capture a second Champion Stakes victory at Ascot.
