FRANKIE DETTORI kicked off his farewell tour with a thrilling victory on Chaldean in the 2000 Guineas – to leave bookies in tears.
Dettori smuggled the 7-2 second fav into the Newmarket mud and he found loads for pressure.
GettyDettori bashed the bookies again with a brilliant win on Chaldean in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket[/caption]
It made up for when the Andrew Balding-trained runner dumped Dettori to the turf on his trial run.
Long-time ante-post favourite Auguste Rodin disappointed massively to finish down the field.
Chaldean, trained by Sun Racing columnist Balding, was 17-2 on Saturday morning but was smashed into a winning price of 7-2.
Coral’s John Hill said: “Frankie Dettori has caused bookmakers plenty of pain over the years, and in his final year in the saddle, he has done it again in the 2,000 Guineas.
“Chaldean was well-backed throughout the day, particularly once the rain started to fall.
“As costly as Frankie has been over the years, we are all going to miss him at the end of this season, as he has brought so much positive publicity to the sport throughout his magnificent career.”
There were shocks in behind as Hi Royal finished second at a colossal 125-1 for trainer Kevin Ryan.
While Royal Scotsman finished third at 11-1.
This was a fairytale start to Dettori’s final career in the saddle with the world’s most famous jockey winning one of the five Classics.
Dettori announced at the end of last year that 2023 would be his last in the saddle.
He was banging in winners in the States over Christmas but returned to his adopted home a few weeks ago ahead of the start of the Flat season.
Dettori rides Lezoo in the 1000 Guineas on Sunday – and now attention turns to a dream double.
Balding, unveiled as Sun Racing’s new columnist on Saturday, said: “Frankie gave him a brilliant ride and he’s a terrific horse.”