Disappointment On The Downs

Well another Derby weekend comes and goes and I have to admit I’ve come away from the 2013 renewal feeling slightly flat and deflated.

It wasn’t all bad, of course, the horrible weather of the previous few days  finally relented and the sun shone on the Downs. The crowds were healthy, 120,000 on the big day itself but those large crowds bring inherent problems as an annoying minority seem to be unable to control themselves after a few drinks.

Friday didn’t get off to a good start as it finally saw the return of Frankie Dettori after serving a six month ban after being caught with traces of cocaine in his system after a drug test in France last September.

With the delays in the returning of his licence I was beginning to find the whole affair more than tiresome.

Of course when he finally did return the frenzy in certain parts of the media was frankly nauseating and one of the worse offenders was Channel Four.

You would think we were witnessing the return of some long lost hero – we weren’t.

Let’s get this straight Dettori was banned after taking a drug which it is a criminal offence to both possess and use. This is not the action of some immature youngster this is the action of a supposedly mature and responsible 42 year old man, father to five children – what a wonderful example to set to them.

He then moves the Dettori PR machine into overdrive claiming it was a moment of madness, a one of mistake. Towards the end of a ban he agrees to the softest of soft interviews with Clare Balding, who by her own admission has been a friend of his for years – so  no danger of a Paxmanesque interrogation there then?

Also, let's not forget Dettori has previous when it comes to cocaine .... he must be a very unlucky person to have only had the drug twice and to have been caught both times. 

Remember Dettori is a shrewd PR operator – switch on the TV cameras and he is the jolly chirpy Italian jockey, away from the cameras and the big meetings the story is different.

I have witnessed, first hand, the other side of Dettori and frankly I think he is an objectionable, obnoxious individual.

For me, after all the fuss about his return, I was actually two of his three mounts came home last.

One of the biggest smiles about his overblown return actually came courtesy of Channel Four.

Emma Spencer, clearly employed for her supposed good looks rather than her racing knowledge, interviewed Neil Callan the winner of Resurgent  and then proceeded to ask him about his “ride” in the next race on Sri Putra – a ride where he had been jocked off by one L Dettori.

He soon put Ms Spencer in her place but how ironic that one of the star presenters of Channel Four was unaware of the jockey change, when the broadcaster she is employed by were having the broadcasting version of an orgasm over Dettori’s return.      

Racing in Friday was good with the aptly named Talent winning The Oaks giving trainer Ralph Beckett an amazing 1-2 in the race, although not in the order expected and it gave Richard Hughes a second classic win in a few weeks.

Saturday dawned and the two feature races were starkly different.

In the Coronation Cup we had St Nicholas Abbey looking for an unprecedented third consecutive win.

With around £9.5k on offer for finishing fifth it was disappointing to see only five runners, especially when two of the five were simply in the race as pacemakers. With trainers complaining about the lack of prize money you would have thought more would have had a pop, even if it were for the decent place purse.

In the end the script worked out as planned with St Nicholas Abbey coming home, barely breaking sweat, followed home by Dunaden.

He can only beat what is put in front of him but with almost £5m in winnings he has been a credit to connections.

Before I turn to The Derby I must mention The Dash over the fastest five furlong course in the country.

Ryan Moore gave Duke of Firenze a sublime ride. I 9^th place and behind wall of horses a half-a-furlong from home, he weaved through rivals to go on and record a neck victory.

Even more impressive was the run of the runner-up, Smoothtalkinrascal, under  Daniel Tudhope, who was as far back as 14^th at the half furlong pole.

Well in the big race itself we had a well touted favourite in Dawn Approach. I have to admit he is a horse I have long admired and I really wanted him to do well in The Derby – as we now know it wasn’t to be.      

I think it's the worse Derby I can remember, a very messy race and I can't recall the last time there were six stewards inquiries into a single race.

Poor Kevin Manning didn't stand a chance in the race - Dawn Approach ran as if a pot of mustard had been shoved up his backside, he took off like a horse possessed and it would have been no surprise if Manning had not returned with arms six inches longer than when he had set out.

Full credit to Ballydoyle who employed perfect tactics, in not employing a pacesetter  they played on the perceived weaknesses of the favourite. Although looking at Dawn Approach I think he would probably have blown up whatever tactics had been employed.

French raider Ocovango probably would not have won but would have been possibly been placed were it not for him getting mullered twice. I wonder  would a jockey with more experience of Epsom have done better on him?

Mars, fancied in some areas, didn't get the best of runs either.

OK The Derby is always a rough race but this one just didn't seem right at all.

Did the "best" horse win - possibly but even that is open to debate.

It was a fantastic day for Ryan Moore though.

Moore often gets slated for “not having a personality” but I would rather have him ride a horse of mine than the coke snorting showman Dettori.   

Dettori Banned

So, as expected, Frankie Dettori picks up a six month ban for testing positive for a “banned substance” in France.

The French will not reveal when the banned substance is but it has been widely reported and, significantly, not denied by the Dettori camp that the substance involved is cocaine.

To his credit, although when faced with incontrovertible evidence would any other option be viable, Dettori has held his hands up and admitted the offence and then immediately went into what he thought was damage limitation mode.

He describes the incident as a “moment of madness” and says he has let down “the sport he loves” and worse of all “let down his wife and children.”  

In an interview with the Daily Express he goes on to say, 'I was in a dark place, I was very low. My job was going down the drain.'

All very noble expressions but let’s look at them in a bit more detail.

He describes what happened as a “moment of madness” – well it’s not a single moment of madness is it as he already has “form”, having received a police caution for possession of cocaine back in 1993. He piously claimed he learned his lesson back then so did he suddenly have amnesia in 2012?

So let’s assume his “moment of madness” claim is true, then all that can be said is Dettori must be a very unlucky man. He has, twice in his life, had some “Charlie” and both times he has managed to get caught – now that is either desperately unlucky or it defies credibility. People can form their own views on that one – I know which I would tend to believe.

Dettori goes on to say he has let down “the sport he loves” – I have no doubts he does love the sport after all he has made his fortune from it and he is, undoubtedly, a brilliant rider. However he has also exploited the sport to his advantage.

Dettori is probably the first jockey to exploit the PR machine to build a Dettori brand. With his trademark flying dismount and his carefully nurtured image as a cheeky Italian always ready with a smile and a quote. The darling of the public because he is the complete contrast to many of his weighing room colleagues who keep themselves and let their skills in the saddle do the talking.

What many forget is the public persona is the one Dettori and his advisers want the public to have and, as is often the case, the reality is different from the spun image.

Most in the press room will have stories of extremely difficult encounters with a moody Dettori.  Many describe him as a thoroughly unlikable character. Yes he is fine if giving an interview that will help nurture the image but try getting a normal racing quote and it’s a different story.

I’ve seen him launch four letter tirades at racegoers who have tried to speak with him after racing.

But at the end of the day Dettori has been the face of racing so his little foibles are overlooked for the sake of the sport.

What’s next, oh yes, he has let down his wife and children.

He has let down his children to the extent the bad publicity will probably result in his kids getting quite a lot of stick at school but that’s about as far as it goes.

The truth is he should have thought of the impact on his children before he decided to indulge.

As for letting down his wife – I don’t think so.

Finally there is his justification for what happened, 'I was in a dark place, I was very low. My job was going down the drain.'

So that makes it all OK does it?

There are many people in many walks of life who are under real pressure yet they do resort to talking illegal drugs.

To be honest the utterances from Dettori sounds like somebody wallowing in their own self-pity. “My job was going down the drain” rather dramatic stuff – for somebody working in a factory in an area of high unemployment then the prospect of losing ones job is a big issue.  

Lets face it Dettori losing his job at Godolphin wasn’t exactly going to leave him and his family starving with the bailiffs at his door. He was still going to have a very lucrative few years as a freelance.

So I’m sorry those mealy mouthed words cut no ice with me and I don’t think many hard working people struggling to make ends meet would have much sympathy with Dettori’s excuse either.

Lest anybody thinks I have a heart of stone I am aware jockeys have a hard life, they have to maintain their weight, they potentially risk their lives every time they get on a horse and they need a hell of a lot of self-discipline. It is not something I would want to do – not least I don’t think they will ever have a minimum weight of 14 stone.

However most jockeys seem to managed without resorting to illegal drug use.

For those who do fail support is needed and I have to commend an excellent statement from PJA boss Paul Struthers yesterday (http://www.thepja.co.uk/documents/Frankie%20Dettori%20Statement.pdf)

Dettori has not helped himself. He has created a “brand” in the public eye which works well if he can live up to that image. The trouble is if you set yourself up on  pedestal the fall is much greater when things do go wrong as Dettori is finding out.

Dettori has a problem which I hope he can get sorted out. I believe it would be much better for him if he went away quietly and sorted his issues out, rather than issuing frankly nauseating statements which are unedifying and only make him look even worse.