Who said Frankie Dettori is retiring?
Italian jockey Frankie Dettori performs a flying dismount in the winner's enclosure after riding Trawlerman to victory in the British Champions Long Distance Stakes on Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot Racecourse, west of London on October 21, 2023.
Winning his fifth consecutive race on an afternoon reminiscent of seven at Ascot, 1996, Lanfranko Dettori drove Nothing Like You, to a rail-skimming triumph in Saturday's Santa Anita Oaks, Arcadia, California.
Frankie came right back a half-hour later to win the seventh race, gifting him six consecutive victories. He did not have a mount in the eighth, but finished third in the ninth, on Getthemoney, and, second in the Santa Anita Derby riding Imagination. Laffit Pincay's seven-hit wonder in 1987, is the only time a jockey has won that many at Santa Anita
A native of Italy who had planned to retire at the end of 2023's racing season, Frankie has performed at Santa Anita the last two winter meets.
Nothing Like You pulled away to a 7.5 length win over her Bob Baffert stablemate, Kinza 1-2, who was defeated for the first time in four career starts. Corposo, Kopion, and, Ifuaintfirsturlast followed on.
The Santa Anita Oaks is a qualifying point race for Kentucky, with 100-50-25-15-10 available to the first five finishers eligible to compete at Churchill Downs. Because Bob Baffert has been banned from Churchill Downs for the last three years, neither earned any points.
Juan Hernandez sent Kinza to the lead for the opening quarter mile. Kopion and Mike Smith pressured Kinza with Nothing Like You tucked in along the rail. As these two battled on, Frankie bided his time for an opening, before shooting Nothing Like You through along the rail, then quickly popped an insurmountable lead.
“We were lucky enough to have a decent break and got in a handy position, where I wasn’t getting any of the kickback. We were fully loaded at the quarter pole. I just needed a little bit of room and she took off. What can you say about Bob? He’s a genius. We have a good working relationship."
Kinza, the beaten favourite, came into the Oaks off three consecutive wins since Dec. 29, including the G3 duo of the Las Virgenes in February and Santa Ysabel in March.
“She ran smartly, but got a bit stressed," said Juan. "She never really settled down as she has in the past. Too hot in the post-parade, but looked like she wanted to run. A good filly beat me. We nailed it last time."
“Without the horse, a jockey doesn't matter, but Frankie kept this filly as clean as possible," said Bob. "Frankie is simply just a phenom. He is world-class and has brought his talent to every stage.
After a sixth-place finish in the first race, Frankie's tally was: Ball Don't Lie, Recinto Rompere, Roberta's Love, Kathynmarissa, Nothing Like You, and, Royal Charter. Way to go!
