Chaldean© Photo Healy Racing
While things did not go according to plan for Chaldean and Frankie Dettori at Newbury last month, the Italian still has high hopes he can ride a fourth and final Qipco 2000 Guineas winner on Saturday.
Unseated coming out of the stalls in the Greenham Stakes, Dettori admits he would far rather have finished aboard his mount, but he at least did not subject himself to a hard time and was soon caught.
In his farewell season, Dettori won the Italian 2000 Guineas for the first time on Monday and if he can claim the British version once more to add to Mark Of Esteem (1996), Island Sands (1999) and Galileo Gold (2016), he will likely raise the roof on the Rowley Mile.
To reacquaint himself with his big-race mount, Dettori went to Andrew Balding’s yard last weekend and liked what he saw.
“It wasn’t ideal what happened at Newbury, so I went to Andrew’s on Saturday for a sit on him and he seemed in good nick,” he told Sky Sports Racing.
“It was one of those unfortunate things (at Newbury) — the horse next door jinked, mine jinked a bit, knocked my foot out of the iron and before I knew I was on the floor.
“I’d have rather finished the race on him than walk back, that’s for sure, but I like the horse, he’s done nothing wrong.
“He won the Dewhurst which is usually the best trial. We don’t know how he’s done between two and three but it’s the same story for all of them, that’s why the Guineas is so unpredictable, you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“He got seven furlongs no problem in the Champagne and Dewhurst, so he doesn’t have much further to go.”
