Charismatic international jockey Frankie Dettori and 1980s legend Dancing Brave (Lyphard) are the two newest members of the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame. Launched in 2021, the Hall of Fame is specifically for UK Flat racing, and both inductees will be honoured through a special presentation moment ahead of the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket Racecourse on Saturday, Apr. 30.
Dettori, 51, is the third jockey to be inducted after Lester Piggott and Pat Eddery. He has ridden almost 3,300 British winners, third to Piggott and Willie Carson, as well as celebrated major victories in at least 24 countries. The Italian holds the record for scores in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Tromphe, with six. One of Dettori's greatest triumphs in the saddle was riding all seven winners on a card at Ascot on Sept. 28, 1996. Dubbed the 'Magnificent Seven', the feat's cumulative odds were 25,051-1.
“Winning every race on a card was something that I didn't think was possible, not in my lifetime anyway,” Dettori recalled. “It's the biggest achievement of my career, without question.”
The reinsman also has 270 wins at the Group 1 level to date. In Britain, he has booted home the winners of 21 Classics, among them triumphs in the G1 Derby aboard Authorized (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) in 2008 and Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) in 2015. At Royal Ascot, he has 76 winners to his credit, second only to Piggott. Dettori has been named the top jockey at the Royal Meeting eight times.
Dettori said, “Joining the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame gives me an immense feeling of pride and I'm honoured for my career to be recognised in this way, placing me alongside others who I have looked up to my whole life. Lester was my idol when I came over from Italy and I was lucky to ride against him on a few occasions, while Pat was the most gifted horseman I have ever seen.
“When I first started out, my ambition was to be a mid-division jockey. This spiralled out of control early on; I quickly became Champion Jockey, I got an awesome job with Luca [Cumani], and the dream came alive. When I first set out on this path, I didn't quite believe in myself but, as things snowballed, I realised I could make it to become the jockey I am today.”
Trained by Guy Harwood for the late Prince Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte operation, Dancing Brave is the sixth horse to enter the Hall of Fame, 36 years after his G1 2000 Guineas victory. Bred by Glen Oak Farm and Gainesway Farm in Kentucky, Dancing Brave was a $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Summer Yearling Sale graduate and won both starts at two. The bay colt returned at three to take six races in 1986, including the G1 2000 Guineas, G1 Eclipse S., G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. and a strong renewal of the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. His only losses were an unlucky second in the G1 Derby to Shahrastani (Nijinsky II) whom he beat in the Arc, and a fourth to Manila (Lyphard) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita in November of 1986. The colt was so highly thought of that since the International Classifications began in 1977, only Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), a Juddmonte homebred and fellow Hall of Famer, has been rated higher.
“On behalf of Prince Khalid's family, for Dancing Brave to be the second horse owned by him, after Frankel (GB), to be inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame is testament to Prince Khalid's passion and vision for the Thoroughbred,” said Douglas Erskine Crum, Chief Executive of Juddmonte. “It is another significant landmark in Prince Khalid's legacy which endures into the future. Everyone at Juddmonte is delighted that Dancing Brave has received this prestigious accolade.”
Added Harwood, “He was definitely the horse of the decade (1980s), if not amongst the top two or three in the last 40 years. What made him different to others was that most horses were specialists–either specialist milers, mile and a quarter or mile and a half–but Dancing Brave would have been a champion over any distance.
“My absolute standout memory of Dancing Brave has to be winning the Arc de Triomphe; it was one of the occasions where I had complete confidence that the horse was going to win. I was never in any doubt that he was at his best and at his best, he was unbeatable.”
The National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket has also established an official display for the Hall of Fame, providing visitors with an opportunity to find out more about some of the most adored and important stars of British Flat racing in person. To view videos of the inductees, please go to the Hall of Fame's website.
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