Cracks in the relationship between John Gosden and Frankie Dettori appear to have widened with the jockey not riding any of the trainer's three runners at Newmarket on Saturday.
The leading jockey, 51, will be at Headquarters to ride the Ralph Beckett-trained Lezoo but finds himself surplus to requirements for the three John and Thady Gosden-trained runners on the card – Sunray Major, Stowel and Mimikyu.
It seems the snub has caught Dettori by surprise with his manager, Peter Burrell, admitting on Thursday: “We’re in the dark and searching for answers like everybody else.”
Whether today amounts to a fracture that won't heal will no doubt become apparent over the coming days.
Dettori has ridden Sunray Major, owned by Juddmonte, in seven of his eight races and he has partnered the Nat Rothschild-owned Stowell, who ran creditably at Royal Ascot last time, in his past six races.
However, the pair will both have new jockeys this weekend. James Doyle will ride Sunray Major in the Criterion Stakes with Robert Havlin on Stowell in the Fred Archer Stakes. Havlin will also ride Mimikyu for owner George Strawbridge in the fillies’ handicap.
The news comes after a challenging Royal Ascot meeting for Dettori and the Gosdens, plus a season that the Italian would probably like to start again.
Two of the most successful characters in racing, who combine to form one of the sport's most formidable partnerships, teamed up in 18 races at Ascot and won only once, with outbursts and regrets outweighing flying dismounts.
Dettori came in for some blunt criticism from Gosden Sr after his ride on Stradivarius in the Gold Cup, and in the next race when Saga, owned by The Queen, failed by a head to catch Thesis in the Britannia Stakes.
Gosden, 71, said in the Gold Cup aftermath. "I was bit surprised from having been in the box seat that we dropped back so far. The problem is when they sprint, you had to come wide to get a run and he had to come widest of all. He had a chance the last furlong and the race slipped on him. I just wish we had been a little handier and not had to go through a wall of horses."
It was not the first time in the past year that Dettori and Stradivarius had not been seen to best advantage and, to make matters worse, the jockey was subsequently given a two-day whip ban. His snap reaction had been that Stradivarius "had every chance to get them, but they were stronger than me. I laboured a bit at the end and I was never going to get them." That didn't tally with how most saw it, including his employer.
Before that, Lord North had been left at the start of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes after Dettori had struggled to remove the horse’s hood in the stalls. Some also questioned the jockey’s tactics when Emily Upjohn was beaten a short-head in the Oaks at Epsom last month, although Gosden Sr was not one of them.
Dettori did guide Inspiral to an emphatic win in the Coronation Stakes last Friday and had four more Ascot rides for the Gosdens, all confirmed ahead of the Gold Cup, before the meeting came to a close on Saturday. He hasn't ridden since.
After Inspiral had won, Gosden again reflected on the Gold Cup: "Our hero overcomplicated it yesterday and I was clear in my definition of that. I think it's right to say what you think. It's over, it's past, it's finished and we move on."
But, inevitably, what moving on now looks like has become clouded, with Betfair opening a book on who will be the next retained rider at Clarehaven.
Gosden helped get Dettori’s career back on track following his split with Godolphin and the pair have enjoyed tremendous success in recent years. The likes of Enable, Stradivarius, Golden Horn, Palace Pier, Too Darn Hot, Coronet, Star Catcher, Anapurna and Logician have all helped keep Dettori at the top table.
Overall, Dettori has ridden about 600 winners for Gosden in Britain from more than 2200 rides. But he will not be boosting either tally on Saturday.
