Jockey Frankie Dettori, Trainer John Gosden ‘Amicably’ Part Ways

Frankie Dettori has been the stable jockey for trainer John Gosden over the past seven years, partnering greats like Enable, Golden Horn, and Stradivarius. After a difficult meeting at Royal Ascot, during which Gosden publicly criticized Dettori's ride aboard Stradivarius when he finished third in pursuit of a fourth win in the Group 1 Gold Cup, Gosden has announced that he and Dettori will “take a sabbatical from the trainer-jockey relationship,” according to At The Races.

Gosden released the following statement on Friday evening, after he and Dettori met in person in Newmarket: “Following speculation in the press, Frankie and I have amicably decided to take a sabbatical from the trainer-jockey relationship but we remain the closest of friends and colleagues.

“Frankie has been – and always will be – one of the family here so I wanted to meet face to face after he returned from his post-Ascot holiday.

“I do not intend to appoint a stable jockey at Clarehaven.”

Gosden was publicly frustrated after Dettori piloted Stradivarius to the third-place finish in Royal Ascot's Gold Cup, having gone widest of all and coming up short in the stretch. Gosden also suggested that Dettori's frustration with that ride played a role in his defeat in the subsequent race, when beaten a head aboard the Queen's Saga in the Britannia Stakes.

Though Dettori regrouped the next day to win the Group 1 Coronation Stakes on Gosden-trained Inspiral, the trainer remained frustrated.

During an interview with Sky Sports Racing after the Coronation Stakes, Gosden said: “He didn't overcomplicate it, which is what he did yesterday. It's an awful habit. A jockey must never be tied down with instructions. It's like a blank canvas; if something happens in a race you just have to ride the way you feel.

“Our hero overcomplicated it yesterday and I was clear in my definition of that. I think it's right to say what you think. It's over, it's past, it's finished and we move on.”