Our man at the track Ben Linfoot witnessed Frankie Dettori win his final 2000 Guineas aboard Chaldean, a horse who could give him a farewell year to remember.
“You don’t know who Frankie Dettori is? Right…” Of all the things you don’t really expect to hear on a racetrack in 2023 that’s one of them, but as the rain continued to fall at Newmarket after Chaldean had landed the Qipco 2000 Guineas, one fresh racegoer was getting a quick education from his pal on the career of the extraordinary Italian.
Another chap tried to start a ‘there’s only one Frankie Dettori’ chant before realising he was dealing with too many syllables, but the jockey seemed to enjoy the sentiment. A finger was pointed at the crowd, a kiss was blown. A flying dismount followed to a huge roar. Most people in the vicinity know just who Frankie Dettori is.
His last 2000 Guineas, his fourth win, and as he waves goodbye to the sport on a year-long farewell tour it all seems so inevitable that we’re talking about Frankie again. All the pre-race chat of the Triple Crown for Auguste Rodin, Dettori steals the limelight. Two weeks ago he was dumped to the turf by Chaldean in the Greenham, but Dettori bounces back. Was it ever thus.
“I might start a trend,” joked trainer Andrew Balding straight after the Guineas, when he admitted the jockey-less run in the Greenham was a far from ideal prep. It’s funny how things work out. But other than that Chaldean had had a good spring – he’d been going well at home, his juvenile form had been working out very nicely and then on judgment day itself the rains came. You could say the whole thing worked out perfectly.
The race did for Chaldean and Dettori. Hi Royal and Dubai Mile did the dirty work up front and Frankie sat just off them on the shoulders of the leaders. His horse was relaxed and running within himself, others were keen, some were disliking conditions. He was travelling in a prominent position and when it turned into a horse race he was well placed to mount his challenge.
When Hi Royal started to hang to his left out of the dip Chaldean stayed straight and true, soon establishing himself in the race as they hit the rising ground. Quite authoritative in the end, he beat the runner-up Hi Royal by almost two lengths, Royal Scotsman by further than he had in the Dewhurst.
Observers may well conclude this was an average Guineas, that it was won by a horse who handled the soft ground better than his rivals, that he is not a great Guineas winner. Time will tell, it is a difficult race to weigh up. But the great thing about Chaldean is that he has learnt to be a racehorse and his uncomplicated style will make him a force in the mile division all season long.
The son of Frankel – this was Frankel’s first Guineas winner (at Newmarket anyway, I hear you, Homeless Songs) – was not the finished article as a two-year-old when he learnt his trade. He was keen in his first win at Newbury and he was keen when he won the Acomb Stakes at York.
But when he encountered soft ground in the three-runner Champagne Stakes at Doncaster last September, when Dettori rode him for the first time and subsequently claimed him as his ride, he settled nicely on the front end and the blueprint was established. It was then adhered to in the Dewhurst, despite a tardy start, Dettori dominating after rushing him up to the lead.
If Oisin Murphy had any ideas about getting on Chaldean during his comeback season, they were extinguished in that Dewhurst. That was the key trial, too, with runner-up Royal Scotsman running a blinder in third here, after being lit up and racing keenly early on. If there’s another miler in the race it’s probably him, with runner-up Hi Royal most likely to step up in trip, ditto fifth home Dubai Mile.
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As for the others, a quick run through: Sakheer ran okay in seventh after being keen early. He was weak in the market and the ground probably went against him, but he could be one who thrives when dropped back in trip on better conditions. Similar sentiments apply to Noble Style. Then there were the Aidan O’Brien-trained pair, Auguste Rodin and Little Big Bear, who were major disappointments. Neither ran any sort of race. Little Big Bear pulled way too hard and his goose was cooked at an early stage, Auguste Rodin just didn’t fire at all. There was a thumbs up from O’Brien in the soggy pre-parade ring beforehand, but it’s back to the drawing board for this duo.
The performances of the O’Brien pair do blur Chaldean’s achievement to an extent. Did he have to beat much in the end?
We will find out in the coming months. For Chaldean, the programme is there. St James’s Palace Stakes, Sussex Stakes and then, if there’s any temptation to go up to 10 furlongs, the Juddmonte International at York. The owners might well have their eye on that one on the Knavesmire.
Either way, the Frankie Dettori farewell roadshow just got a whole lot more exciting. “I couldn’t have written a better story myself,” he said afterwards, wiping away either the rain or a tear. The only surprise was he didn’t win on Saga for the King on coronation day, the day Chaldean was crowned. A 26th classic will have to do.
Frankie Dettori's Classic record
QIPCO 1000 Guineas – (4) – Cape Verdi (1998), Kazzia (2002), Blue Bunting (2011), Mother Earth (2021)
QIPCO 2,000 Guineas – (4) – Mark of Esteem (1996), Island Sands (1999), Galileo Gold (2016), Chaldean (2023)
Betfred Derby – (2) – Authorized (2007), Golden Horn (2015)
Betfred Oaks – (6) – Balanchine (1994), Moonshell (1995), Kazzia (2002), Enable (2017), Anapurna (2019), Snowfall (2021)
St. Leger – (6) – Classic Cliche (1995), Shantou (1996), Scorpion (2005), Sixties Icon (2006), Conduit (2008), Logician (2019)
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