King Of Steel (3/1) beat Via Sistina and Horizon Dore to win Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot; Frankie Dettori celebrates victory with final ride in Britain before move to USA; Dettori u-turned on decision to retire last week
Saturday 21 October 2023 16:56, UK
Frankie Dettori was crowned the king of Ascot as the legendary Italian signed off with a fairytale victory aboard King Of Steel in the Qipco Champion Stakes.
The 52-year-old is bidding farewell to British racing as he moves to the USA to ride next year, having u-turned on a decision to retire last week.
He went to Qipco British Champions Day with five rides, winning in race one aboard Trawlerman in the Long Distance Cup.
After three defeats in a row, Dettori got aboard Roger Varian's King Of Steel for his final ride of the day and looked to be in real trouble as the field turned for home.
French challenger Horizon Dore came with a real chance on the outside, as did Via Sistina under Oisin Murphy, but Dettori never gave up hope on King Of Steel and hit the line three-quarters of a length in front, to the elation of the Ascot crowd, who greeted him with chants of "oooooh Frankie Dettori".
Dettori said: "It's emotional really, I don't know what to say. I cannot believe it, the crowd have been sublime. I was doing my best on top and the scream that I got was just incredible, thanks to all of you.
"To win this race is fantastic. It was all in the script! It's unbelievable. I know don't know to feel, I don't know if it's real. It's incredible."
Reflecting on King Of Steel's performance, Dettori added: "I struggled from the beginning, I couldn't get him to travel and he was stumbling. Then I decided to get behind Mickael (Barzalona, on Horizon Dore) as I thought he was on the horse to beat, but then I thought Oisin was looking good.
"He just found a second wind and he dug deep and the crowd were behind me. The last 100 yards I thought I was going to get there, not before then!
"What a feeling, the crowd! For the first race I thought the crowd were good but they took it to another level, it was honestly incredible.
"It's a fairytale ending to me, Ascot is my home. I'm pretty emotional to be honest, but happy tears!"
