He was part of her two Group 1 victories and on Wednesday morning Frankie Dettori met up with Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) for a round of the Del Mar turf track before heading to the Breeders' Championship hired. Cup lawn.
It is exactly a year since Europe's best-known jockey bowed out with a Champion Stakes triumph in Britain before starting his novel life in California. This novel chapter began in the best way possible with another top victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf aboard another star mare from the Gosden stable, Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Now trainer and jockey have teamed up again on an elderly stomping ground that both John Gosden and Dettori have a real fondness for.
“The only thing that hasn’t changed is John. He still bosses me around and wants me to come to work at 6:45 in the morning,” Dettori said of his last 12 months on the other side of the Atlantic.
“It was a challenge, but it was exactly what I needed. It went better than I thought. Coming to America and taking on the Americans on their own doorstep, not many people have done that. But my agent did a great job. I rode for everyone, not just a single stable. It was a very successful year.”
He continued: “The only place I get recognized now is the race track. It's nice when you step back and you can just be a normal person. I don't have to wear sunglasses and a hat like I do at customs. It was a lot of fun because it's all novel to me. I've been to Modern York, Modern Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Toronto. I've seen so much in nine months. It was great.
“It's a challenge because we're traveling with eight suitcases, but it was more of a challenge for Catherine than for me. I have less clothes than her. But other than Saratoga, where I was for six weeks, I don't think I was in the same place for more than a week. It’s fun, fun, fun.”
Gosden, who previously lived in California during his early years of training, oversaw Emily Upjohn getting a “comfortable look” on the turf on Wednesday and said afterwards that the five-year-old mare had enjoyed her round under Dettori. That certainly seemed to be the case as she casually strolled around waiting for the grass track to open, towering over her pony with imperious elegance.
“It's great to be back here at Del Mar. We used to have a lot of fun here,” Gosden said.
“[Emily Upjohn] likes faster terrain and obviously rapid terrain will suit here. It rained quite a bit in Ireland when she came second in the Pretty Polly and she ran a great race in the Vermeille the other day when it was good to cushioned, but on softer ground she is the better filly. She has a decent draw and now you just hope she can capitalize on it.”
Emily Upjohn was also entered for the Filly & Mare Turf, but Gosden opts for the longer distance turf in mixed company.
He justified this decision by saying: “A mile and a half here is like running two and a half miles in Europe.” It's keen, it's rapid, it's rapid terrain, three corners, brief straights, so she needs every inch and that's one of the reasons she runs the mile and a half. The other reason is that the starting stands on the mile and a half track are not near the back corner. If you get a wide pull and are that close to the turn, you're at a stern disadvantage. I didn't want to come all the way here and get a wide draw over a mile and three-eighths, so we're going to go against the Colts and get a better run on the backstretch before you hit the first turn because it's a substantial one Filly, she’s not a nice little thing.”
Gosden cited the “hefty workload” of jockeys in Britain and Ireland as one of the reasons for Dettori's move to the United States.
“Jockeys don’t ride here every day,” he said. “People underestimate how tough it is for jockeys in the UK and Ireland. They run seven days a week. You can drive on an all-weather route at 8:30 at night. Then come home when it's murky and get up at 5 a.m. to go to work. It's the same in summer. The workload of jockeys in our country is far too high. They are phenomenal athletes and many of them are unable to eat or drink normal amounts of food. You can no longer sweat at the races. I think they have a really, really strenuous time and that is underestimated by our authorities.”
After Andre Fabre, Gosden is one of only two European trainers to have won the Breeders' Cup Classic, and he also gave his opinion on one of the week's main talking points: Can City Of Troy win?
“Actually, I spoke to Aidan [O’Brien] about it in York,” he said. “You have a good run on the straight before the first corner – I won the mile-and-a-half race here that used to be called the Del Mar Handicap – and if you're down on the inside you have to break off carefully because if they come across, you get the backlash, and that's the problem, the backlash is the problem. A horse like that, if you had a clear run to the first corner and he was traveling well, I doubt you would catch him. I think he would surpass them. But where it is pulled from depends on how alert it jumps.”
He continued: “I had a lot of good turf horses. You put them on the dirt and they could work and change for a mile in 1:36, and then you put them on the dirt in the afternoon and they get the setback and…” lose their rhythm because they’re not used to it that so much dirt hits them in the face. Ryan [Moore] will be well aware that he must try to avoid this scenario, but that is easier said than done.
“But is he the best horse in terms of quality? Yes, he is.”
The horse in question, City Of Troy, was back out shortly after 8 a.m. with his team reduced in size by one colleague. Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who was slated to start in the Filly & Mare Turf alongside stablemate Content (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), was withdrawn delayed on Tuesday after three years, it was revealed the elderly woman had a slight fever and stopped eating.
With Rachel Richardson in the saddle, City Of Troy had a sleek session in the stables and a gallop round that had moved up a gear since his first appearance on Tuesday, but was still just a steady exercise.
Every day, just behind the Ballydoyle battalions, but at a chilly distance, appeared one of the smartest three-year-old fillies in Europe: Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio). With the half-siblings Iridessa (Ire) and Order Of Australia (Ire) Annemarie and Aidan O'Brien have already bred two Breeders' Cup winners and Porta Fortuna, trained by her son Donnacha, could be next. She's up for the mile, which will be her second Breeders' Cup start, after finishing a close second to Strenuous To Justify (Justify) in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Since then, she has done little to disappoint her coach.
“Everything went perfectly. She has traveled well and is progressing well,” O’Brien said. “I don't think you can expect a filly who has been as busy as she was at two years elderly to make as good progress as she has, but she is a fantastic filly and we are lucky to have her.” She is very professional.”
That professionalism has brought her three consecutive Group 1 wins this season, the Coronation, Falmouth and Matron Stakes, and on her debut as a three-year-old she finished second to Elmalka (GB) in the 1,000 Guineas.
Her coach added of the next challenge: “It’s a very intense race; It probably has the most depth of any race I've ever watched. The form looks very sturdy and she will probably need to improve her performance to win, but I think she has a good chance.”
Porta Fortuna is owned by the American partnership of Medallion Racing, Barry Fowler, Steven Weston and Reeves Thoroughbreds, a group that has since expanded its involvement with O'Brien's stable.
He said: “I think the plan is to continue next year, but there are a lot of partners so we’ll see how it goes first and then go from there.”
“It’s not always the case that someone who has success invests their money back, but everyone has been great to us and bought yearlings to give to me over the last two years and we are very grateful for that.”
