Day three of the York Ebor Festival on Friday was a dramatic one. Tight finishes were the order of the day and many thought the Queen’s horse Dartmouth had beaten Montaly in the Lonsdale Cup earlier in the day – but the photo showed different. But the one that had everybody talking was Frankie Dettori’s premature celebration in the Gr1 Nunthorpe Stakes.
Frankie Dettori – in the second box!
Greg Woods writes on www.theguardian.com that Frankie Dettori is famous for his celebrations but his exuberance led to a moment he will want to forget after the jockey punched the air and waved his whip in triumph following a frantic conclusion to the Nunthorpe Stakes.
Dettori, riding the 10-11 favourite Lady Aurelia, was convinced he had edged out Marsha and Luke Morris to take the feature race but the photo-finish camera begged to differ and a few moments later it was announced Marsha had got up in the final stride to win by a nose.
Dettori still looked dazed by the outcome as he returned to unsaddle. “I’m gutted,” he said. “I thought I’d won by a neck.”
Morris, though, switched from despair to delight as it became clear his rival’s celebration had been premature. “I wasn’t sure and when I saw Frankie put his arm up, I was gutted as I thought he had won,” he said. “Then someone said congratulations to me and it turned into jubilation.”
Both horses recorded the same time, 57.97sec, for the five-furlong contest, and Lady Aurelia led for all but the final millisecond.
A few jockeys who misjudged…read more!
The York Ebor Festival rounds off today with the Gr1 Ebor Handicap heading the programme.
There has been talk of it not being as exciting looking as in previous years, but when you consider even just the top of the betting, it’s hard to separate them. Flymetothestars is likely to start favourite – but a ground warning was issued a fortnight ago.
