RACING:FRANKIE DETTORI will attempt to beat the odds and turn back the clock at the same time when he makes a cross-channel dash on Saturday to partner Snow Fairy in Leopardstown's Red Mills Irish Champion Stakes.
The switch of the €750,000 Leopardstown highlight to a 6.45 evening start allows the charismatic Italian jockey to ride in Haydock’s Betfred Sprint Cup in the afternoon and then travel to Dublin for a possible Group One double.
To the relief of the track authorities, Snow Fairy’s trainer Ed Dunlop yesterday indicated his dual-Classic-winning filly will take on the heavy odds-on favourite So You Think at the weekend and that Dettori will be on board.
“We’re hopeful and fairly confident Frankie will be riding her,” Dunlop said yesterday. “He rides at Haydock on Saturday but will then go across to Ireland and he’s beginning to know the filly well.
“It could be a tactical race, Aidan (O’Brien) has three in it and who knows if it will suit but she’s fit, ready to run, and we’re running out of options for her. Our hand has been forced in this direction.”
Snow Fairy missed an intended engagement at Deauville 10 days ago due to a technicality in the French governing body’s rules.
Dettori enjoyed a purple patch in the Irish Champion Stakes over a decade ago when he won the race four times in five years with the Godolphin quartet, Swain (1998), Daylami (1999), Fantastic Light (2001) and Grandera (2002). Since Grandera the Champion has been dominated by home winners and although So You Think is rated a 1 to 3 shot to enjoy a successful run before a possible tilt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Dunlop is confident he has Snow Fairy back to her best after two runs this season.
“We knew she was going to need her Eclipse run very badly which she did, she got very tired at the two furlong pole, and stepped forward to run well in the Nassau,” he said. “Again Frankie said the filly will improve and wasn’t 100 per cent there. We’re happy with her now and I’d like to think she is 100 per cent now. She’s had no hiccups, has trained well but we’re under no illusions. So You Think is going to be a very hard horse to beat,” Dunlop added.
Séamie Heffernan partnered So You Think to win the Eclipse in July and has retained the ride on the ex-Australian star for this weekend. Heffernan won the Champion in 2010 on Cape Blanco.
Duncan Ramage, racing manager to So You Think’s part-owner, Dato Tan Chin Nam, confirmed the riding arrangements yesterday.
Just six entries remain in the Champion and bookmakers rate Snow Fairy as the only real viable challenger to So You Think picking up a third Group One prize in Europe.
“I’m not sure if he has scared off his rivals or if they just have other plans. It certainly looks like being a small field though,”
Ramage continued. “Snow Fairy would look to be the main rival. I think she ran her best race so far this season last time and she is obviously good.
“You have got to be in it to win and that’s the tactic in Australia but I don’t know if it is the same in Europe – people seem to be a little more defensive with their running plans.”
With a largely dry forecast for the rest of the week, watering began at Leopardstown yesterday where the official ground description was “good to firm.”
There will be no French representation in Saturday’s other Group One race, the Fusaichi Pegasus Matron Stakes, after Freddie Head ruled out his Prix Maurice Du Gheest winner Moonlight Cloud. The other French entry, Glorious Sight, is unlikely to travel.
Aidan O’Brien’s Misty For Me has been installed a warm favourite for the Matron which could instigate a Group One double for the champion trainer.
O’Brien completed the Champion-Matron double last year with Cape Blanco and Lillie Langtry.
* JASON Maguire faces an uncertain spell on the sidelines after injuries suffered in a fall at Cartmel over the weekend turned out to be more serious than first thought.
Maguire parted company with Keyneema in Saturday’s Grant Thornton Handicap Chase and was airlifted to hospital in nearby Lancaster.
He was soon discharged with what were thought to be only minor injuries, but Maguire sought a second opinion and doctors at Gloucester Royal Hospital have found that he has picked up a spinal injury.
