Fun, Fun, Fun as Frankie and Friends are Reunited 

He's been on board for both her Group 1 wins and on Wednesday morning Frankie Dettori was reunited with Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) for a spin on the grass track at Del Mar ahead of lining up for the Breeders' Cup Turf.

It has been exactly a year since Europe's most recognisable jockey signed off with a Champion Stakes triumph in Britain before jetting to his new life in California. This new chapter started in the best possible way with another top-flight win, in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf aboard another of the Gosden stable's star mares, Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Now, trainer and jockey have teamed up again at an old stomping ground for which both John Gosden and Dettori have genuine fondness.

“The only thing that hasn't changed is John. He's still bossing me around, wanting me in to work at 6.45am,” said Dettori of his past 12 months across the Atlantic.

“It has been a challenge but it was what I needed. It has gone better than I thought it would. Coming to America and taking on the Americans in their own backyard, not many people have done that. But my agent has done a great job. I've ridden for everyone, not just one single stable. It has been a very successful year.”

He continued, “The only place I get recognised now is on the racetrack. It's nice when you step away and you are just left to be a normal person. I don't have to wear sunglasses and a hat like when I am walking through customs. It has been a lot of fun because it's all new to me. I've been to New York, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Toronto. I've seen so much in the space of nine months. It has been great. 

“It's a challenge because we are moving around with eight suitcases but it's been a challenge more for Catherine, rather than myself. I've got less clothes than her. But apart from Saratoga, where I was for six weeks, I don't think I've been in the same place for more than a week. It's fun, fun, fun.”

A former resident of California in his early years of training, Gosden oversaw Emily Upjohn being given a “leisurely look” at the turf on Wednesday and said afterwards that the five-year-old mare had enjoyed her spin under Dettori. That certainly looked to be the case as she wandered around casually waiting for the turf track to open, towering over her pony with imperious elegance. 

“It's great to be back here at Del Mar. We used to have a lot of fun here in the old days,” Gosden said.

“[Emily Upjohn] likes faster ground and obviously it's going to be quick ground here which will suit. We got quite a bit of rain in Ireland when she was second in the Pretty Polly, and she ran a great race the other day in the Vermeille when it was good to soft, but she's a better filly on softer ground. She's got a decent draw and now you're just hoping she can capitalise on it.”

Emily Upjohn had also been entered for the Filly & Mare Turf, but Gosden is opting for the extended distance of the Turf in mixed company.

Explaining that decision, he said, “A mile and a half round here is like running a mile two and a half in Europe. It's sharp, it's quick, it's fast ground, three bends, short straights, so she needs every inch and that's one of the reasons she is running in the mile and a half. The other reason is that the starting stalls in the mile and a half are not close to the far bend. If you get a wide draw and you are that close to the bend you are seriously disadvantaged. I didn't want to come all the way here and get a wide draw going a mile and three-eighths, so we'll run against the colts, get a better run down the back stretch before you hit the first bend, because she's a big filly, she's not a neat little thing.”

Gosden cited the “harsh workload” on jockeys in Britain and Ireland as one of the reasons for Dettori's move to the States.

“Jockeys are not riding every day over here,” he said. “People underestimate how hard it is on jockeys in the UK and in Ireland. They're riding seven days a week. They can be riding at 8.30 at night on some all-weather track. Then, getting home when it's dark and getting up in the morning at 5am to ride work. It's the same in the summer. The workload on jockeys in our country is much too harsh. They're phenomenal athletes and a lot of them aren't able to eat or drink a normal amount of food. They can't sweat at the races anymore. I think they have a really, really tough time and that is underestimated by our authorities.”

After Andre Fabre, Gosden is one of only two European trainers to have won the Breeders' Cup Classic, and he also offered his view on one of the week's main talking points: can City Of Troy win?

“Actually, I talked to Aidan [O'Brien] about it at York,” he said. “You get a good run up the straight before the first bend – I won the mile-and-a-quarter race here that used to be called the Del Mar Handicap – and if you're down on the inside you've got to break alertly because if they come across you get the kickback, and that's the problem, the kickback is the thing. A horse like that, if you get a clear run to the first bend and he was travelling well then I doubt they'd catch him. I think he would outclass them. But from where he's drawn it's a matter of how alertly he jumps.”

He continued, “I've had many good turf horses, you put them on the dirt and they could work a mile in 1m 36 and change, and then you go and put them on the dirt in the afternoon and they get the kickback and lose their rhythm, because they are not used to that amount of dirt hitting them in the face. Ryan [Moore] will be very aware that he has to try to avoid that scenario, but it is easier said than done.

“But is he the best horse, on quality? Yes, he is.”

The horse in question, City Of Troy, was back out just after 8am with his team of workmates which had been reduced by one. Ylang Ylang (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who had been an intended starter in the Filly & Mare Turf along with stable-mate Content (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), was withdrawn late on Tuesday after the three-year-old was found to be running a slight fever and off her food. 

With Rachel Richardson in the saddle, City Of Troy had a smooth session in the stalls and a canter round, up in gear from his first appearance on Tuesday but still only a steady exercise. 

Appearing each day just behind the Ballydoyle battalions but at one cool remove has been one of Europe's smartest three-year-old fillies, Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio). In the half-siblings  Iridessa (Ire) and Order Of Australia (Ire) Annemarie and Aidan O'Brien have already bred a pair of Breeders' Cup winners, and Porta Fortuna, trained by their son Donnacha, could be next. She lines up for the Mile for what will be her second Breeders' Cup start, having finished a close second to Hard To Justify (Justify) in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. She has done little to disappoint her trainer since then.

“Everything has gone perfectly. She travelled over good and is moving well,” said O'Brien. “I don't think you can ever expect a filly who was as busy as she was at two to progress as well as she has but she's a fantastic filly and we're lucky to have her. She's very professional.”

That professionalism has carried her to victory this season in three consecutive Group 1s, the Coronation, Falmouth and Matron Stakes, and she was runner-up to Elmalka (GB) in the 1,000 Guineas on her three-year-old debut.  

Her trainer added of the next challenge, “It's a very deep race; it probably has the most depth of any of the races that I've looked at anyway. The form looks very strong and she will probably have to step up on what she's done to win it but I think she's got a good chance.”

Porta Fortuna is owned by the American partnership of Medallion Racing, Barry Fowler, Steven Weston and Reeves Thoroughbreds, a group which has since expanded its involvement in O'Brien's stable.

He said, “I think the plan is to keep going next year but there are a lot of partners so we'll see first how she runs and then take it from there.

“It's not always that if someone has success they'll put money back in but everyone has been fantastic to us and bought yearlings the last two years to give to me and we're super-appreciative of that.”