European star Frankie Dettori's plan to ride regularly at Gulfstream's Championship Meet this winter is up in the air at the moment.
In a phone interview Saturday, Dettori said he will have a better idea whether he will ride in Florida in about 10 days, after he completes a holiday with his family and takes a look at his riding commitments. He is under contract to Al Shaqab Racing, owned by Sheikh Joaan al-Thani of Qatar.
“Basically, I've got no firm plans for what I'm doing,” he said. “If I do come it will be in the middle of February.”
In early October, Dettori said that he hoped to be at Gulfstream Park by late January and spend about three months at the South Florida track.
In recent years, Dettori, 44, has developed a friendship with American trainer Wesley Ward. He took Ward up on his offer to ride at Saratoga Race Course last summer and piloted the Ward-trained Hootenanny to a victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Oct. 31. Dettori won twice and was second three times on 11 mounts during the opening weekend of the Saratoga season, his first appearance at America's oldest track.
Dettori was noncommittal about riding at Gulfstream but said he would be talking with Ward after he understood what his commitments are to Al Shaqab.
“I have to check what I've got going,” he said. “It depends what they've got running. Until I know exactly what's going on I'm not really sure about that.”
Since 1989, Dettori has had at least one mount in North America in every year except 2013. According to Equibase, he has a record of 33-24-25 from 265 mounts and earnings of $25.3 million in North America.
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