Frankie Dettori admits he’s ’so nervous’ ahead of Sunday’s Arc ride on Enable at Longchamp
FORGET the magnificent seven — the Magnificent Seventh is the only thing that matters now.
The chance of history. The opportunity to achieve something that has never been done before and probably never will again.
All sports have their heroes. Diego Maradona, Ian Botham, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali…
And at 4.05pm local time tomorrow, John Gosden’s wonder mare Enable aims to add an equine name to that sporting hall of fame.
No horse has ever won the Arc de Triomphe three times. All being well, that will change this year, in less time than it takes to boil a kettle.
No wonder Frankie Dettori, already with an unequalled six victories in the race, admits he has never been more nervous before a race.
Dettori, the most famous face in racing, the man with the constant smile, the man who memorably had that through-the-card seven-timer at Ascot in 1996, is no stranger to pressure.
But this time, with the eyes of the world on Longchamp, it is like never before. No wonder the sparkling eyes have a burning gleam that could cut through diamonds.
Frankie knows what’s at stake. It’s far more than the €2,857,000 (just over £2.5m) prize-money. It is the prospect of Enable becoming the greatest of all time.
Dettori has ridden over 500 Group winners, but this one is different. As he admitted: “It will mean history. Even if she loses she will leave a legacy, but this will make her immortal, and that will be my inspiration on that day. Achieving something that’s never been done before.
“I am so nervous about the day itself, I have been for a while and I will be an absolute wreck the night before the race. No horse has ever won three — I can feel the Enable fever.
“Enable has taken me emotionally where no other horses have. We have won two Arcs together, and she continues to break records.
“She just has this tremendous presence, the public are attached to her and, never mind her brilliance, she shows such a will to win. That is why I and everyone else loves her so much.”
Only once has Enable tasted defeat. It came on her season’s return as once-raced three-year-old, when she finished third in a Newbury conditions event.
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That day she was the Gosden stable’s second-string, behind Shutter Speed. In 12 races since Frankie has been on top, and every time it has ended in the winners’ enclosure.
Ten of them have been Group 1s and bizarrely, until her thrilling King George win in July, every one had come at different courses.
That Ascot victory over Crystal Ocean, getting the better of a battle all the way up the straight by a neck, is rated the greatest race ever by some judges.
Some of Enable’s most memorable triumphs haven’t been by the widest of margins. But she can win in every way — from the front, battling, finishing late, you name it.
As Gosden admitted, she has almost become like a wily old boxer, happy to win on points. The upshot, though, is always the same.
And if the odds are correct, it will be the case in Paris on Sunday. Certainly, unlike 12 months ago, everything has gone to plan. It was anything but last year when she went to defend a crown first won in Chantilly in 2017, while Longchamp was being redeveloped.
Dettori recalled: “In her first Arc she was so brilliant. It was just a matter of ‘keep composed and press the button’. For once I was able to enjoy it — she was magical.
“For the second, she’d had a setback, but no-one said anything to me. She beat Crystal Ocean at Kempton and I thought ‘great, roll on the Arc’.
“But she had a bout of temperature for about a week so wasn’t training. Everything was hidden from me and I rolled up thinking good girl, she’s going to do it again.
“Everything went to plan, it was the perfect race. I kicked for home and thought ‘let’s enjoy it’ and the petrol just went. She just came to a halt.
“I didn’t even celebrate that one at first because it was such a shock I thought I was going to lose that I froze.”
Ironically the last of seven others to attempt an Arc treble — Treve — was denied by Dettori and Golden Horn in 2015.
It was the sweetest of wins as Frankie had controversially lost the ride on Criquette Head’s would-be history maker ahead of the previous year’s race, and responded with one of THE great rides.
Any differences between trainer and jockey have long since been buried. Indeed, Criquette is as keen as anyone to see Gosden and Dettori victorious on Sunday.
She insisted: “I hope she wins. And if you take the combination of Frankie and Enable, they are better than anyone.”
For all there are only 12 runners this year — less chance, therefore, of traffic problems — dangers still abound.
Aidan O’Brien’s Japan is improving, French Derby winner Sottsass carries huge local hopes, Godolphin’s Ghaiyyath was a staggering 14-length Group 1 winner in Germany.
Trainer Gosden, whose handling of Enable has been every bit as brilliant as anything Dettori has shown in the saddle, certainly doesn’t see it as a foregone conclusion.
He admitted: “It’s not an easy race. It’s the most difficult track to ride, and you just want to get the horse there in top order.
“I think a capital P for patience might be part of it because there’s a little bit of a habit to be in a hurry, to say the least.
“You just want to be calm because they will pick up on it. Plenty of deep breathing and try to keep cool, but in top form she has every right to be there.
“I respect the opposition as I always do — but they will respect her. You just want to have a clean race, then you accept it, that’s life. She’s managed to win two Arcs, maybe it’s a bit greedy to think of a third.”