Prominent international jockey Lafranco “Frankie” Dettori may be on the path to one of the few achievements that has evaded him over the course of his career, the Kentucky Derby, but there remain multiple roadblocks along the way.
One of Dettori's stated goals when he announced he would spend the winter riding at Santa Anita Park was to find a mount for the Derby.
He told publicity: “Fingers crossed, I might stumble into a very good 3-year-old that would take me to Churchill Downs the first Saturday in May.”
That dream might be a bit closer to reality after this weekend. Dettori guided the Bob Baffert-trained Newgate to victory in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Saturday, saluting the winner's enclosure with his signature flying dismount.
“I'm having the time of my life,” Dettori told DRF this week. “I'm enjoying the riding.”
Were it not for the suspension against Baffert by Churchill Downs, the win would have earned Newgate 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Instead, pending the results of a court hearing in Louisville last week, Baffert may have to turn all of his top 3-year-olds over to other trainers by Feb. 28 in order to allow them to accrue points toward this year's Run for the Roses.
If Baffert's lawyers are unable to secure an injunction against Churchill Downs' suspension, Newgate would likely be transferred to a different trainer to pursue the Kentucky Derby; in 2022, Baffert-trained Derby hopefuls were transferred to his former assistant, Tim Yakteen, to run in their final preps and at Churchill Downs. Were that to happen again in 2023, Dettori might not keep the mount.
That uncertainty, wrote Racing Post columnist Peter Scargill, leaves the Italian-born Dettori in limbo. He still has the option of returning to England to ride in the 2,000 Guineas, scheduled for the same day as the 2023 Kentucky Derby on May 6, in which he would ride one of the early-season favorites, G1 Dewhurst winner Chaldean.
“Baffert's past may end up undermining his position of dominance and has left Dettori in a Classic limbo,” Scargill wrote.
Either way, it will be the last opportunity Dettori has to win a Classic race; the champion jockey plans to retire at the end of the 2023 season.
“There's plenty of things to unfold from now until the Derby,” Dettori hedged, speaking to DRF after Saturday's victory.
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