Jockey Frankie Dettori, who plans to retire after the 2023 Breeders' Cup, might have an uncommon opportunity before his career draws to a close: riding a horse he named for himself.
2-year-old Lanfranco, who has Dettori's full first name, is owned and bred by Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, governor of Medinah province and the fifth son of King Salman of Saudi Arabia. Dettori visited Prince Faisal's Denford Stud last year and was given the privilege of naming a horse of his choice, according to a Racing Post report.
Dettori already has success with the family of Lanfranco. The colt is by Frankel out of the Dubawi mare Coronet, whom Dettori rode to five of her six victories. Those included a pair of top-level triumphs in France in 2019, the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1) against males and the Prix Jean Romanet (G1) versus fillies and mares. Like Lanfranco, Coronet also was owned by Prince Faisal.
Richard Evans, farm manager at Denford Stud, told Racing Post that Lanfranco is in pre-training right now and would go to trainers John and Thady Gosden when he was ready. Evans said he hopes Lanfranco would make it to the races this year and Dettori would be able to ride. But he said he does not expect Lanfranco to be an early-developing horse. Instead, he would like to see Lanfranco race once or twice later in the season.
If that were to bear out, it would mirror the development of Coronet, who was also trained by John Gosden. Coronet broke her maiden on debut at Leicester under Dettori in September of her juvenile season. She also won a listed race at Newmarket the next month.
