How many Classics has Frankie Dettori won?

How many Classics has Frankie Dettori won? At the time of writing, Lanfranco ‘Frankie’ Dettori, 50, has recently demonstrated that he is no back number when it comes to Classic success by riding Mother Earth, trained by Aidan O’Brien, to victory in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket. The evergreen Italian veteran had previously won the first fillies’ Classic three times before, but his past victories, on Cape Verdi (1998), Kazzia (2002) and Blue Bunting (2011), all came during his time as a retained jockey for Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation.

All told, Dettori has won 20 English Classics, most of them in the iconic royal blue silks of Godolphin. However, after his retainer came to an end in 2013 and he returned from a six-month worldwide ban for failing a drugs test, Dettori worked his way back to the top of his profession in a freelance capacity. In 2015, won his second Derby, on Golden Horn, trained by John Gosden, and the following year his third 2,000 Guineas on Galileo Gold, trained by Hugo Palmer. Since then, Dettori has ridden his fourth and fifth Oaks’ winners, Enable and Anapurna, in 2017 and 2019, respectively, and his sixth St. Leger winner, Logician, in 2019. All three horses were trained by John Gosden.

What does ‘ran out’ mean?

During a race, if a horse, with its jockey intact, takes the wrong course or bypasses an obstacle by running around it, rather than jumping over it, that horse is said to have ‘run out’ and is immediately disqualified. Thus, the in-running comments for the horse in question may include something along the lines of ‘…ridden 3 out, weakened next, ran out approaching last’ and its form figures will include a letter ‘O’ to indicate what happened. Note that ‘ran out’ is slightly different from ‘carried out’ – indicated by a letter ‘C’ in the form figures – where a horse is sufficiently impeded by a rival that it is carried off the course through no fault of its own.

A horse taking the wrong course is often the result of jockey error. While inexcusable, such errors used to be a regular occurrence on the Cross Country Course at Cheltenham, for example, which twists and turns and doubles back on itself at various points. However, it is not uncommon for a horse to hang violently one way or the other, sometimes to the point that it becomes difficult, or impossible, for its jockey to control. In such cases, it may be impossible for a jockey to prevent a horse running out and, in fact, this may be the safest option for all concerned.

What is a ‘bumper’?

‘Bumper’ is a colloquial term used to describe a race officially known, rather confusingly, as a National Hunt Flat Race. Run under National Hunt Rules, typically over distances between 1 mile 4 furlongs and 2 miles 1 furlong, this type of race is intended to provide young, untried horses with racecourse experience without the adding complication of having to negotiate obstacles. No horse that has run under any recognised Rules of Racing, except in similar races in Britain and Ireland, or AQPS Flat races in France, or is aged more than seven years old, is eligible to run in a National Hunt Race.

Nowadays, ‘bumpers’ are often contested by fully-fledged professional jockeys but, historically, they were the preserve of inexperienced conditional and amateur jockeys. The combination of unseasoned horses and unpractised jockeys often had farcical consequences. The term ‘bumper’ was coined, disparagingly, to describe the uncoordinated efforts of the participants, including their propensity to bump into one another as the result of steering problems. That said, the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, which has been a fixture of the Cheltenham Festival since 1992, is a prestigious and valuable Grade 1 contest, with a roll of honour that includes the likes of Cue Card, Champagne Fever and Envoi Allen.

What’s the purpose of a stewards’ enquiry?

What's the purpose of a stewards' enquiry? A stewards’ enquiry may be called for a variety of reasons, not all of which, necessarily, may have affected the result of the race in question. The purpose of a stewards’ enquiry is to ensure that all races are run fairly, in accordance with the Rules of Racing. A panel of stewards investigates any possible breach(es) of the rules and, having heard evidence from jockeys, trainers, stable staff and other interested parties, makes a joint decision on what action to take, if any. In most cases, a stewards’ enquiry is completed, and its outcome is announced to the public, before the start of the next race.

Possible infractions include ‘improper’ or ‘careless’ riding, which may have resulted in deliberate or accidental interference and ‘schooling in public’, where a jockey fails, in the eyes of the stewards, to make a ‘timely, real and substantial effort to obtain the best possible placing’. If the stewards decide that the rules have been broken, they have the power to revise the placings in a race, impose fines and suspensions on jockeys and trainers and, if necessary, refer incidents to the disciplinary committee of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) for further action at a late date.

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