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No stopping Dettori

Star Italian jockey captures two more Group 1 wins on final day of Royal Ascot

Star jockey Frankie Dettori rounded off his Royal Ascot week with a treble, including finally winning the only Group 1 to have eluded him at the prestigious meeting with victory in the Coronation Stakes on Irish raider Alpine Star on Saturday.

The 49-year-old Italian's haul, which included another Group 1 for trainer John Gosden in the St James's Palace Stakes with Palace Pier, gave him six winners for an overall Royal Ascot tally of 73.

However, the 25-year-old Kevin Stott, who once had a trial as a footballer at Tottenham, denied him a fourth win in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes on the Kevin Ryan-trained Hello Youmzain.

The Danish rider added a second winner, along with Ryan in the big handicap of the day, the Wokingham Stakes.

Dettori punched the air and his trademark flying dismount followed, despite there being no spectators, due to the coronavirus pandemic, to admire it.

"It has taken 30 years to win all the Group 1s, but I can say that I have really conquered Royal Ascot now," said Dettori, who rode the Gosden-trained Stradivarius to a third successive Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup by 10 lengths on Thursday.

"I am thrilled, thrilled. It is a big tick of a box in my career for me," he said.

For trainer Jessica Harrington, who watched the Coronation Cup race with friends in Ireland, it was her second victory in the race, having trained Alpine Star's half-sister Alpha Centauri to triumph in 2018.

"You could probably have heard us in Ascot, the volume we were shouting," said Harrington. "I could not believe how well she did it, she has such a big heart."

Dettori, who had started the day with a win on American runner Campanelle in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes, struck in the next - the St James's Palace Stakes - conjuring up a late burst from Palace Pier to overhaul Pinatubo and denting further the runner-up's reputation.

Pinatubo had been aiming to rebound from his first defeat in the 2000 Guineas but failed to find another gear once he was passed by the winner. - AFP

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