Frankie Dettori endured a winless opening day at Royal Ascot, which was only made worse by a nine-day ban for careless riding.
The Italian is waving goodbye to the Royal meeting as he edges closer to retirement, but was unable to take advantage of several good rides, including 2000 Guineas winner Chaldean, who was favourite for the St James' Palace Stakes but lost out to Paddington.
Dettori, riding the King’s horse, Saga, caused Australian jockey James McDonald to snatch up his mount as he sought get the ideal spot on the inside rail early in the Wolferton Stakes. The 52-year-old will still be able to add to his tally of 77 Royal Ascot winners however.
The dates of his ban are July 4 to 12 which means he will miss the Coral-Eclipse Stakes on July 8 at Sandown in which he would be expected to ride Coronation Cup winner Emily Upjohn. Racegoers in Berkshire will still be able to roar on Dettori, who has several fancies on Wednesday.
He rides Tamarama in the Kensington Palace Fillies' Handicap at 3.05pm and Prosperous Voyage shortly after in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes. In the big race of the day, the Princes of Wales Stakes, Dettori is without a ride in the six-horse field. Dettori's best fancy on Day Two is in the Queen's Vase where he rides the favourite Gregory.
In the lead up to the iconic event Dettori was hopeful he could produce his signature dismount in the winner's circle. He said: “I’ve got a really fantastic book of rides and I’m raring to go. The adrenalin will kick in when I come to the track. It will be my last Royal Ascot so let’s hope it’s a good one . . . hopefully with a few flying dismounts.”
The Italian though is also not naive to the emotion of the occasion, which will come later in the week. He added: “You know me, I wear my heart on my sleeve — so there will be tears on the last day, especially as all my family will be at the track. I’ll be filled with all kinds of emotions over the next five days, hopefully all good.
"It is 34 years since I first rode at Royal Ascot and there have been plenty of tears of joy — and some sad ones too — down the years. Oh yes, and, luckily . . . a few flying dismounts too! I was 18 when I got my first ride at the meeting and finished eighth on a horse called Burkan trained by Neville Callaghan in the 1989 Royal Hunt Cup. I was just a little kid from Italy, nobody had heard of me! I’d like to think they have now!"
