With the longstanding association between legendary jockey Frankie Dettori and trainer John Gosden in peril, Adam Houghton highlights four of the best horses they have teamed up with.
Golden Horn
With Clarehaven’s stable jockey William Buick signing a lucrative retainer for Godolphin, John Gosden turned at the start of 2015 to Frankie Dettori, who had had a retainer with the trainer back in the mid-90s.
Gosden later recounted that Golden Horn was the horse he put Dettori on when he first rode work “in the sleet and rain of March”.
Golden Horn went on to cement the partnership between Dettori and Gosden with a phenomenal three-year-old season, winning six of his eight races and registering four Group One victories in the Derby, the Eclipse, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
It was a refreshingly attacking campaign, one which reflected well on both trainer and jockey. Dettori was seen to particularly good effect in the Arc, giving Golden Horn an excellent ride from a difficult draw to secure a record-equalling fourth victory in the race.
Cracksman
Placed in the Derby on just his third career start, Cracksman made giant strides in the second half of his three-year-old season in 2017, culminating with a top-class performance to win the Champion Stakes by seven lengths.
Cracksman was kept in training at four, but a prolonged dry spell that summer meant that he didn’t see much action due to his preference for rain-softened ground. He also showed signs that his temperament was starting to get the better of him, with his laboured display in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (beaten at 5/2-on) giving Gosden plenty of food for thought.
Gosden’s response was to run Cracksman in blinkers when he reappeared four months later in the Champion Stakes, an inspired decision as it turned out.
With the return to softer going also in his favour, Cracksman suddenly bounced right back to his best to defend his crown, forging clear under a jubilant Dettori to land the spoils by six lengths.
Enable
Enable was all-conquering as a three-year-old in 2017, achieving a lofty Timeform rating of 134 as she registered five Group One wins in the Oaks, the Irish Oaks, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Yorkshire Oaks and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.
Enable never scaled quite the same heights again in terms of ratings, but she continued to rack up the Group One wins, with her 11th and final success at the top level coming when she won the King George for a record third time in 2020. She also won the Arc for a second time in 2018, but a third victory in that race proved elusive as she could manage only second in 2019 and sixth in 2020.
Enable's retirement was announced shortly after her second Arc defeat, with Dettori and Gosden both quick to pay tribute.
Dettori said: “She has touched my heart and has been one of the great mares of our generation,” with Gosden adding: “Her daily presence has been a joy and her record in Group Ones including four Oaks, three King Georges, two Arcs, an Eclipse and a Breeders' Cup Turf is a marvel and unprecedented."
Stradivarius
Stradivarius is without doubt one of the very best stayers of the modern era. He has already won 20 races and his 18 wins in pattern company include three in the Gold Cup, putting him one behind Yeats’ record total, and four in the Goodwood Cup, a record he holds on his own.
It’s testament to Stradivarius’ remarkable longevity and durability that he has kept going as long as he has.
Even though he has now come up short in his two attempts to win the Gold Cup for a fourth time, he clearly retains a very smart level of ability at the age of eight, as he showed when finishing third in the latest edition of the Royal Ascot showpiece.
Gosden and Dettori both deserve plenty of credit for the roles they have played in Stradivarius’ career, though the jockey’s part in the story now seems to be over – the ride Dettori gave Stradivarius at Ascot last time drew public criticism from Gosden.