Frankie Dettori will miss the St Leger's 250th anniversary meeting at Doncaster, but the six-time winner of the world's oldest Classic remains a devoted supporter of the race. The 55-year-old Italian had planned to come out of retirement for the festival's charity Legends race, which would have been his first ride in Britain since his Champion Stakes victory on King Of Steel at Ascot in October 2023. However, a car crash in July left him with four broken ribs and a fractured thumb, forcing him to withdraw.
Dettori's enduring St Leger love affair
Dettori will still be at Town Moor to celebrate the landmark St Leger, a race he calls the "ultimate test of a thoroughbred." He recently said: "I'm a traditionalist and I'm a big supporter of the St Leger. It's just the ultimate test of a thoroughbred."
His remarkable Leger story began aboard Classic Cliche in 1995, when victory also brought up the 1,000th winner of his career. A year later he triumphed on Shantou, giving trainer John Gosden his first British Classic. Wins on Scorpion in 2005 and Sixties Icon in 2006 followed before one of his most memorable victories aboard Conduit in 2008, which handed legendary trainer Sir Michael Stoute his first St Leger after years of trying.
Memories of a legendary career
A jubilant Dettori hugged the famously reserved trainer and planted a kiss on his cheek. He later recalled: "I said to Michael that he has had Lester Piggott, Willie Carson, Walter Swinburn, Pat Eddery, Kieren Fallon, Steve Cauthen and Ryan Moore so I was the last name on his book and I have got him out of trouble!"
Conduit went on to win the King George and Breeders' Cup Turf, and Dettori reckons he was probably the best of his six Leger winners. His final triumph, aboard Logician in 2019, provided another vintage Dettori day, with nearly 30,000 racegoers packing Town Moor and a huge roar erupting as he and the hot favourite swept to the front.
Health first after car crash
Dettori said after the 2019 race: "The St Leger has been very lucky for me." Looking back at his extraordinary haul, he added: "I won it six times for five different trainers. Listen, they were all good. You win a race and they give you a Cup. But to have the famous St Leger silks is something else. It's a bit like when the cricketers get one of those caps! They're all different. Some were hard work, some were explosive. But all had to be good."
He had hoped to return to the saddle at Doncaster this year after finally hanging up his boots following a riding double in Brazil in February. Leger Legends organiser Andrew Thornton had hailed him as "the biggest legend we've had in the race so far." But Dettori had to put his health first, admitting last week: "I tried, I'm not fit enough. I still feel the effects of the car crash I had at the beginning of July." He vowed: "I'll be there on the Saturday to support our oldest Classic, the St Leger."
