Talking Horses: will Frankie Dettori ever win a Melbourne Cup?

Frankie Dettori came heartbreakingly close to a first success in the Melbourne Cup but, instead of lifting the trophy, he ended his day with a dressing-down from the stewards, who demoted his mount from second place to fourth. The veteran jockey delivered a fine ride aboard the 25-1 shot Master Of Reality and they briefly seemed to have pinched the £2m prize. Instead, they were collared in the last two strides by Vow And Declare, and then ruled to have interfered with the fast-finishing Il Paridiso, fourth past the post.

“I want to cry,” Dettori muttered, shortly after dismounting, removing any doubt that victory in Australia’s “race that stops a nation” is near the top of his wish-list. He has, after all, won nearly every other high-profile race in world racing, from the Derby to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Japan Cup.

The Italian turns 49 next month and, while he has repeatedly said he has no plans for an imminent retirement, he can have only a handful of opportunities left to win a Melbourne Cup. “I’m more gutted for Frankie than I am for myself,” said Joseph O’Brien, trainer of Master Of Reality and Dettori’s junior by 23 years. “I’ll be back. I don’t know if Frankie is ever going to win this race.”

Those sentiments were echoed by the horse’s owner, Nick Williams, who said: “I’m shattered for him. Nothing would have been better than for Master Of Reality to have won the race for him.”

Dettori has now had 17 attempts at the Melbourne Cup, which has proved even more elusive for him than the Derby. His frustrations in the Epsom Classic became a staple of newspaper coverage in the build-up, until he finally bagged it at the 15th attempt aboard Authorized in 2007.

There will surely be vivid celebrations from this most expressive of jockeys if things ever do fall right for him at Flemington. As it is, he has finished runner-up on three occasions and this time got a nine-day ban for careless riding, having allowed Master Of Reality to hang left into the path of Il Paradiso in the closing stages.

That will eat into the start of his planned working holiday in Japan, the next stop on his international tour. It is the second time the Melbourne stewards have kicked him while he was down. He was suspended for a month and fined the equivalent of £10,000 for causing interference in the 2015 race.

Some brickbats were hurled at the jockey through social media after his latest punishment was announced, but his ride on Master Of Reality was unimpeachable until the very end. He had his mount in what the commentator described as “the plum spot” in the early stages, close up behind a steady pace, and had almost all his rivals in trouble when he kicked for home at the top of the straight. Only a fine, ground-saving ride by Craig Williams on the winner was enough to deny him.

Tuesday’s best bets

If it’s Melbourne Cup day, it must also be Haldon Gold Cup day down at Exeter. Charbel (2.10) appeals most, odds of 6-1 looking like an overreaction to his modest effort at Chepstow three weeks ago. He went well for a fair way that day before getting tired and it’s worth remembering that he has always improved for his first run of the season, from 10lb to 18lb judging by Racing Post ratings.

Kim Bailey’s charge is the only one of the six in this field to have run within the last 183 days and that could make a telling difference. His usual cheekpieces, absent at Chepstow, are now refitted and he has dropped to a beatable rating, half a stone below the one he had at the start of the year.

Bailey could get a double, as Commodore Barry (2.40) is easy to like at 6-4 in the novice chase. He was beaten at odds-on on his chasing debut in May but it was still a fair effort and he should know more this time.

Good old Perfect Candidate (3.10) is coming up on his 13th birthday but gets a welcome drop in class for the staying handicap chase and should still be up to winning off his mark. With Fergal O’Brien’s yard flying along, he appeals at 5-1.