Frankie Dettori, who on Monday picked up the mount on favourite English King (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) in the July 4 G1 Investec Derby, told Sky Sports Racing on Tuesday that he will get acquainted with Bjorn Nielsen’s Listed Derby Trial S. winner this week.
“I’m going to go and ride him this week,” Dettori said. “I can only go on what I’ve seen, but he was impressive at Newcastle last year, and very impressive at Lingfield.
“He’s interesting. On the plus side, he went round Lingfield like it was a flat track. You would think Epsom is quite similar, so that is a big tick in the box. I’ve had some good success for Bjorn Nielsen with Stradivarius. He approached me when he realised John [Gosden] didn’t have anything for the Derby. He had a quiet word in my ear to see if I would accept the ride, and I said I was all over it. He looks a good horse from what I’ve seen, so it would be my pleasure.
Dettori replaces Tom Marquand aboard the Ed Walker-trained 3-year-old, with the 22-year-old Marquand having ridden him in his maiden-breaking win in November and at Lingfield.
“It [losing big rides] happened a lot to me when I was young,” Dettori reflected. “Tom is 22–I’m sure he’ll have plenty of other chances in his career, but I was just delighted to get the ride.”
Dettori said he thinks the G1 2000 Guineas winner Kameko (Kitten’s Joy) is his biggest threat in the blue riband.
“Classic form is always the strongest, and Kameko hit the line strong,” he said. “He’s the one who brings class to the party, and the one I fear the most.”
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