Dettori to miss ride on Eclipse favourite Emily Upjohn after losing appeal
Frankie Dettori will miss the ride on hot favourite Emily Upjohn in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes after he lost an appeal against a nine day Royal Ascot ban on Thursday.
Dettori challenged both the stewards’ decision to find him guilty of careless riding on the King and Queen’s horse Saga and the penalty.
But after giving evidence to a three person BHA independent disciplinary panel hearing lasting nearly four hours, Dettori was told his appeal was refused and the original penalty would remain.
Panel chair HH James O'Mahony said: " The stewards put this in the middle of the range. Having regard to the degree of danger we see no reason to criticise that or to conclude it was wrong or unduly severe. We conclude that nine days is the appropriate penalty in this rehearing.”
The decision brings the retiring Dettori’s farewell season to a grinding halt with the jockey also subsequently receiving a separate eight day ban for breaching the whip rules in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.
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As a result he will miss a total of 17 days, not just Eclipse day at Sandown but also the entire July Festival at Newmarket which features the July Cup, the only Group 1 race in Britain he has never won.
Dettori picked up his sanction on the opening day of the royal meeting when he was found to have shifted his mount right-handed when insufficiently clear, causing James McDonald on Cadillac to take a significant check which caused his mount to become severely unbalanced against the rail, which in turn caused interference to others.
Frankie Dettori on the royal runner Saga (James Marsh/REX/Shutterstock)Dettori’s solicitor Rory MacNeice argued that the interference had been accidental and the jockey had taken reasonable steps to prevent it happening.
During cross-examination Dettori said he was “very surprised” to find McDonald on his inside “as a person who rode at Ascot for 35 years”.
He was repeatedly asked if he would have made the move if he had known where McDonald was.
“Sir, I was trying to stay behind Ryan Moore,” he said. “The thing is I never had any intention to go on the fence but I was surprised to see Mr McDonald there.”
He added: “I did interfere with him because I had nowhere to go because Mr Hornby was directly on my left.
Charlotte Davison, putting the case for the BHA, said: “Mr Dettori came too far over towards the rail because he failed to check and failed to realise that Mr McDonald was on his inside.
“He is therefore causing interference by inattention or misjudgement and is therefore guilty of careless riding.”
O'Mahony said Dettori "couldn't and shouldn't" have moved Saga to the right if he was aware of McDonald's position because was not sufficiently clear.
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"He says he was not aware of the presence of Mr McDonald," he said. "Our conclusion is that he should have been aware.."
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