Frankie Dettori celebrates winning Oaks on Soul Sister By: PA/Victoria Jones
I know it's my 28th and the last Derby, but I won't think about it — I will put all my energy into winning it at the Arrest and I will save my tears until October 21 — my last day of riding in Britain.
Of course. I will shed a tear when that day comes, but on Saturday I want to leave everything on the track to win the race for the third time.
The Farewell Tour is going better than I could have dreamed. Friday was perfect, winning the Oaks and Coronation Cup. I did two dismounts at Haydock a week ago, woke up on Sunday with a swollen ankle, and wrote a note to myself: take it easy on the parachute dismount. Maybe I'll be limping this morning.
My goal at the end of the year is to hopefully come out on top and make people, myself included, want more. After days like yesterday, my heart says «keep going» if everything is going so well, but I have already made up my mind.
Whatever happens, I will stay with sports and purebred animals — they are amazing animals. around; ultra-fast and super-sensitive.
The two that stand out are the two-time winner of Arc Enable and Fujiyama Crest, the seventh winner when I completed the map at Ascot in 1996. He was my pet for 15 years when he retired. Like other people have a Labrador or a cat, I had a 500 kg racehorse in my garden. You get attached, you get to know their emotions.
Dettori performs one of his trademark skydives after winning the Oaks. Photo: Getty Images/Sam Mellish
Derby is a race that every jockey wants to participate in when he starts. The first one is blurry, and the only thing I can remember about my first pollen counting ride in 1992 (16th) is that it was the last year that horses walked across the track past the hikers rather than in circles to the start. . of course, as it is now.
The race frustrated me for a long time and it was my 15th ride before Authorized finally won it. It became a nightmare. Every time the Derby was discussed, the question arose: «Will Frankie finally win?» A bit like AP McCoy at the National.
It was the last piece of the puzzle, but there was really pressure that day as he was a big favorite about four weeks ago. The only feeling was relief.
My second Derby winner, the Golden Horn (2015), was completely different. I really enjoyed this. I was older, the kids were older, there was no pressure on me. That day at Ascot in 1996 was one of the most enjoyable days of my career.
I've ridden many good horses that have been beaten in it, too many to remember, and the point of the Derby is that it's once a year. You made a mess at Ascot and you have five more trips to redeem yourself this day.
I'm colder than I thought I would be
But I'm pretty relaxed before Saturday, probably because I feel like I have nothing more to prove. Of course, you are always a little nervous and excited before a big race, but I feel much colder than I thought.
When I said I was leaving, I didn't have a racing horse. not to mention one with such a good chance. The arrest is a bit like Billy Elliot, he was big, long-legged, clumsy, weak last year, but over the winter he grew stronger into a finished article. He has a bit of attitude and hasn't made a single wrong foot so far.
The only negative is his high knee movement and fast ground won't be ideal for him. But when we took him for a walk around Epsom last week, he went ahead, not backed down the hill, so he ticks a lot. I wouldn't change it.
The passenger looks dangerous. He has had bad luck in court and is a dark horse. A Military Order sibling [Adayar] won it two years ago, so he's close to breeding and nothing surprises me when it comes to Aidan O'Brien.
But if he flips Auguste Rodin after finishing 12th in Guinea, that would be his greatest achievement. Getting Arrest home would be one of my tasks.
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