The news that Frankie Dettori will replace Kieren Shoemark on Emily Upjohn in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar was undoubtedly a disappointment for John Gosden’s stable jockey, but it also put the finishing touch to what promises to be an all-star cast in California this weekend.
The only surprise about Gosden’s move, perhaps, is that anyone was surprised. It is hardly the first time that the trainer has turned to Dettori and his wealth of experience at US racing’s showpiece meeting, most memorably when the Italian replaced Jimmy Fortune aboard Raven’s Pass in the 2008 Classic and delivered the only success to date for a British yard in the Breeders’ Cup’s showpiece event.
And for a final confirmation of what a straightforward decision it must have been, look no further than Dettori’s stats during his first season in the States, having decided to postpone his retirement and relocate to the west coast.
Since his farewell ride in Britain, when he won the Champion Stakes on King Of Steel on a memorable afternoon at Ascot, Dettori has inevitably dropped off the radar of many European punters. There was a sense, perhaps, that while he had not hung up his boots for good, California offered something of a halfway house to ease him slowly into retirement.
If so, the reality has been anything but. In what was initially expected to be his “retirement” year in 2023, Dettori had 30 winners from 126 rides in Britain, worth £5.8m in prize money. So far in 2024, and with the richest two days of the US season still to come this weekend, he has ridden 72 winners from 410 starts, and is in 13th place in the riders’ earnings table –a list that runs to around 1,250 names – with $12m (£9.2m) already in the bank.
Del Mar’s turf course, which is inside the dirt track and has a run-in of less than two furlongs, also offers absolutely no margin for error to jockeys, and is therefore tailor-made for Dettori’s uncanny ability to follow the right opponent and time his stretch run to the millisecond. Five of his last six Breeders’ Cup winners – Enable, in the 2018 Turf, is the exception – hit the front inside the final 50m. Two – Inspiral in last year’s Filly & Mare Turf and Expert Eye in the Mile in 2018 – got there in the final couple of strides.
Dettori is currently in share of fourth place on the all-time list of riders at the Breeders’ Cup with 15 wins, while Ryan Moore, who is a winner behind him on 14, will head to San Diego with an even stronger book of rides for trainer Aidan O’Brien, whose career total of 18 wins at the meeting is two shy of D Wayne Lukas’s record haul of 20.
The irrepressible Lukas, who was 89 last month, has a live chance to make it 21 when Seize The Grey goes to post for the Dirt Mile, but a strong showing from O’Brien’s team – which includes the brilliant City Of Troy in Saturday’s Classic on dirt as well as Lake Victoria, hot favourite for the Juvenile Fillies’ Turf – would likely see him claim at least a share of the all-time record.
Nicky Henderson said on Monday that his stable star, Constitution Hill, was “in great form, terrific” when exercising at Newbury racecourse ahead of his much-anticipated return to action in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on 30 November.
Constitution Hill remains unbeaten after eight starts and was an easy winner of the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham in March 2023, but suffered a series of mishaps in the 2023-24 season and made only one start, in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton in December.
He then missed the defence of his Champion Hurdle crown due to a respiratory issue that first came to light during a similar gallop at Newbury in February, and will return to action following a wind operation over the summer, undertaken after consultation with Nico de Boinville, his regular jockey.
“He hasn’t run since the Christmas Hurdle, but he was in training all the way [and] it was only after he got colic at the last minute that we couldn’t run him [at Punchestown in April],” Henderson said.
"His wind was very good there as well which is pleasing. We'd always been aware of it and Nico had commented on it for a while, so we took the chance to do something about it."
Constitution Hill is likely to gallop again at Newbury on 19 November, while his stable companion Jonbon, the winner of two Grade One events in the spring, is on course to return to action in the Schloer Chase at Cheltenham next month.
City Of Troy’s run in the Classic will inevitably be the focus of attention for many European fans, but this year’s Breeders’ Cup is arguably the strongest ever in terms of the depth of competition from around the world.
Bath 12.58 Call Time 1.28 Bama Lama 1.58 Happy Tears 2.28 Mintana 2.58 Thiscouldbefun 3.28 Ciotog 3.58 Bella Veneta
Stratford-On-Avon 1.05 Wednesday Addams 1.35 Nowmelad 2.05 L’Eau Du Sud 2.35 Sam’s Amour 3.05 Penna Rossa 3.35 Harry’s Hope 4.05 Queen’s Theatre
Newcastle 1.15 Ambiente Amigo 1.45 Skyjack Hijack 2.15 Sayva 2.45 Backbyjet 3.15 Chicago Gal 3.45 Chemical Warfare 4.15 City Of Diamonds
Southwell 4.10 Caramay 4.45 Kimeko Glory 5.15 Empress Matilda 5.45 Spetses 6.15 How Impressive (nap) 6.45 Berkshire Sundance 7.15 Urban Dandy 7.45 Masque Of Anarchy 8.15 Jalaybee
Chelmsford 4.30 Fifth Column 5.00 Epic Express (nb) 5.30 Fiorella Princess 6.00 Little She 6.30 Prada On Parole 7.00 Bint Havana Gold 7.30 Street Life 8.00 Saved Lizzie 8.30 War Chant
In addition to around 50 runners from Europe, there will be a significant contingent of challengers from Japan, including Forever Young, edged out in a three-way photo in the Kentucky Derby in May and a live contender for the Classic. Satono Caranaval, the mount of leading Australian rider Rachel King, is a big runner in the Juvenile Turf, while Ecoro Seig, who recently set a new record time for a Japanese juvenile over five furlongs, is another name to note in Friday’s Juvenile Turf Sprint.
It is 40 years since the first Breeders’ Cup was staged at now-defunct Hollywood Park, which was blown up in 2015 to make way for So-Fi Stadium. The original card had seven races on one afternoon – the Classic, Mile, Turf, Sprint, Distaff, Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies – only two of which were on turf, but has steadily expanded to 14 races over two days, with seven on the grass.
Uttoxeter 12.20 Lookaway 12.55 Irish Chorus 1.25 Railway Bell 2.00 Diamond Dealer 2.35 Chankaya 3.10 Crystal Glance 3.45 Song Of Earth 4.22 River Rider
Newmarket 12.35 Magnetite 1.08 Marching Mac 1.43 Magic Mild 2.17 Montezuma 2.52 Claxton Bay 3.27 Swatch 4.02 On The River
Wetherby 12.45 Kart D’Estruval 1.15 Cadell 1.50 Luckie Seven 2.25 Liam Swagger 3.00 Galop De Chasse (nb) 3.35 Queens Venture 4.10 Romancier
Newcastle 2.30 Humble Spark 3.05 Kaleidoscope Eyes 3.40 Fastnet Jenkins 4.15 Dimsons 4.45 Calafrio 5.15 Commander Of Life 5.45 Bobby Joe Leg (nap) 6.15 Patontheback 6.45 Clotherholme
The Breeders’ Cup’s self-appointed status as the “world championships” of racing will always rankle with some, and it was once a distinctly vainglorious claim, not least before raceday medication was banned in 2021. With a record 80 entries from overseas expected to run at this year’s meeting, however, it is starting to edge a little closer to reality.
