The Writers Guild of America is still on strike, so someone in Hollywood must be moonlighting to come up with Frankie Dettori’s scripts. The credits may, or may not, have rolled on his British career at Ascot on Saturday (spoiler alert: it is 1-8 with the bookies that he will be back at some point next year) but he could ride for another 30 years and never come up with a more satisfying or memorable conclusion to the story of his working life.
Dettori was simply brilliant on his two winners on Champions Day. King Of Steel’s run past all seven of his opponents in the Champion Stakes is the one that will get endless replays, the final reel that will remain embedded in the memories of the 30,000 spectators who roared him home. Trawlerman’s success in the opening race, though, was just as impressive in its way, as Dettori refused to be drawn into a duel with the runaway leader, judged his own travelling speed to the millisecond while clear of the rest of the field in second, and so had enough left in the tank to get back up in the final strides after Kyprios, the favourite, seemed to have his measure.
