The Curragh dream team: how will Aidan and Frankie fare?
The Frankie Farewell Tour is testing the patience of some racing fans. It seems there’s only so many goodbyes and farewells you can say over the course of a year without getting under the skin of a few followers of the sport to judge by some of the negativity on social media.
But those growing a little weary need to take a deep breath because we really are deep inside the final furlong of a remarkable career. A month from now, Dettori will have ridden in Britain for the final time. And how we are going to miss him when he is gone.
I compared his Farewell Tour to a band playing a set of final gigs around the time of the Derby and, since Epsom (day one full of high notes; day two a little more subdued), there have been some spectacular setlists, such as at York’s Ebor Festival, plus a few disappointments, like the no-show at The July Meeting when he was suspended.
His gig on Saturday could be one of those “I was there” occasions. Rather than seek a third triumph in the Ayr Gold Cup, or a fourth success in the Mill Reef Stakes, or have a few rides five minutes down the road at his beloved Newmarket, Frankie Goes To The Curragh in search of something new: a first win on Irish soil for Aidan O’Brien.
Amid all the "Frankie finals" there is still scope for some "Frankie firsts".
The record-breaking pair have enjoyed some dizzy days together in Britain and around the world but a win together on Irish shores has eluded them. They’ve combined eight times. And lost eight times. But it’s not too late to put the record straight. With Ryan Moore in Australia, Dettori has been summoned for three plum rides. Here’s how they rate.
BATTLE FLEET
Race: Bermingham Camers Photo Finish Irish EBF Maiden (1.20). Best odds: 15/8
O’Brien runs three in the opening 6f maiden on the card with Battle Fleet looking his No 1 contender. The Siyouni colt shaped encouragingly when a keeping-on fourth to Givemethebeatboys – since placed in Group One company - on his debut at Navan in mid-May.
He’s since been absent four months, suggesting he’s either had an issue or two in the interim or that O’Brien has been keen to give him more time. Perhaps it’s been a bit of both. Whatever, he’s probably achieved at least as much as any other horse in the race and he’s open to any amount of improvement.
Battle Fleet has a clutch of big entries this autumn, too, although that is hardly unusual when it comes to juveniles housed at Ballydoyle. They tend to get a block booking.
NAVY SEAL
Race: Alan Smurfit Memorial Beresford Stakes (2.30). Best odds: 3/1
Dettori will have an hour to catch his breath after riding Battle Fleet and he might need every minute because Navy Seal has looked raw in his two races, needing plenty of assistance from the saddle.
He was too green to do himself justice on his debut at Killarney and would have given those who took cramped odds about him at the Galway Festival a few anxious moments before he finally knuckled down in the closing stages to get the job done.
Seamie Heffernan told Racing TV viewers afterwards that the Dubawi colt, a brother to the smart Never Ending Story, was “a big baby” but that he “must have a massive engine”.
He’s going to need to up his game if he’s going to become O’Brien’s 22nd Beresford winner but he’s got the right kind of profile and I can’t imagine that he has stood still since his latest run, which was seven weeks ago. Expect him to take a big jump forward.
CHERRY BLOSSOM
Race: Goffs Million (3.40) Best odds: 2/1
They say that it’s a case of the bigger the field, the bigger the certainty. The theory will be tested here because the imposing Cherry Blossom is a short price to beat her 22 rivals in a race where the winner’s purse is a mammoth €610,000
In the aftermath of her second to Relief Rally in the Lowther, I suggested Cherry Blossom would be in her element when upped to 7f and that the 40/1 available about her for next year’s 1000 Guineas looked chunky. Before that fine run at York, she had bounded to a commanding win here at The Curragh.
It goes without saying, then, that I’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t get the job done here. Dettori owes her sire, No Nay Never, a little something, too, after getting beaten on him in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint when long odds-on. It would certainly be fitting if his final ride at The Curragh is a winning one. The ultimate showman knows you must always leave them wanting more.
