Dettori limbers up in style for Stradivarius – and O’Brien equals Sir Henry Cecil landmark
Big names on the scoresheet at Royal Ascot, with Gold Cup on the horizon.
Frankie Dettori and Aidan O’Brien – two of the racing world’s very leading lights – both reached 75 winners at Royal Ascot on the second day of this year’s meeting. Dettori’s success was something of a surprise on 22-1 shot Indie Angel in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes, while Love provided a much more expected triumph for O’Brien in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes as the 11-10 favourite. Indie Angel, trained by John and Thady Gosden, was just what the doctor ordered for Dettori on the eve of going for a fourth consecutive win in the Gold Cup aboard Stradivarius. He is, though, taking nothing granted and knows what the two of them have to do.“I’m not lying – I’m nervous. I’m not over-excited, I’ve got a job to do,” said Dettori, who still has some way to go to reach Lester Piggott’s haul of 116 wins at the Royal meeting. “There’s a lot more runners than I thought – some he has not met before – and then there is the question mark of the rain so there’s a lot of things to be worried about. He still has to turn up.” The 50-year-old Italian could not happier with the way Stradivarius is before his date with destiny. “I’m very pleased with the horse. His home work has been good. His demeanour is good,” he said. “He’s trying to do something that is rare. Only Yeats has done it, so I’ve still got to go out there. Me and him have to perform at our very best and I’ve got to get him over the line.
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