Frankie Dettori and John Gosden: the highs and lows of a great partnership

They were only together for seven years, but the Frankie Dettori-John Gosden partnership became a part of racing furniture. However, it was announced late on Friday that their high-profile relationship "is on sabbatical". Here is a look at their time together . . .

March 2015

Frankie Dettori returns to riding out for John Gosden, for whom he had ridden earlier in his career, after William Buick leaves Clarehaven to join Godolphin.

June 2015

Dettori replaces Buick on favourite Golden Horn in the Derby for Gosden after stablemate Jack Hobbs is purchased by Godolphin. Dettori goes on to win his second Derby on Golden Horn, plus the Eclipse and the Arc.

Golden Horn: Frankie Dettori and John Gosden's first big winnerCredit: Edward Whitaker

October 2016

Dettori has his most winners in a domestic season since 2010 with 85, topped off by steering Journey to victory for Gosden in the Champions Fillies’ & Mares’ Stakes.

October 2017

Gosden’s Enable provides Dettori with a record-breaking fifth win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, having landed the Oaks, Irish Oaks, King George and Yorkshire Oaks that summer, while the jockey partners Persuasive and Cracksman to a Champions Day Group 1 double for the trainer.

July 2018

Dettori relinquishes his role as retained rider for Sheikh Joaan Al Thani’s Al Shaqab Racing, partly to make himself more available to Gosden. "He is very keen to be free to ride John Gosden's horses and contacted Sheikh Joaan directly to say as much,” Al Shaqab racing manager Alison Begley says.

October 2018

Enable wins back-to-back Arcs to give Dettori a sixth win in the race. Too Darn Hot and Cracksman also land Group 1s in the autumn for Dettori and Gosden before Enable goes on to win a vintage edition of the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Enable holds on to win her second Prix de l’Arc de TriompheCredit: Edward Whitaker

June 2019

After winning the Oaks on Anapurna for Gosden, Dettori enjoys a scintillating Royal Ascot, including riding the first four winners on Gold Cup day. Some bookmakers subsequently stop accepting multiple bets on Dettori’s rides.

July 2019

Enable wins the King George for the second time after a pulsating and electrifying battle with Crystal Ocean. In among his praise for the horse, Gosden criticises aspects of Dettori’s ride, saying: “I said to Frankie before the race to stay cool, and he did. I thought he hit the front too soon, and I kept saying to myself, 'No, no wait,' although I'm sure the great jockey will tell me why he moved then.”

October 2019

Anapurna provides Dettori with a personal best of 17 Group 1 wins in a season – surpassing his record from 2001 – when winning the Prix de Royallieu at Longchamp. Another Gosden filly, Star Catcher, adds another on Champions Day.

June 2020

Dettori and Gosden enjoy another successful Royal Ascot with Stradivarius winning his third Gold Cup and Palace Pier landing the St James’s Palace Stakes. Enable later wins the King George for a third time but misses out in the Arc for the second year in a row.

Frankie Dettori and Palace Pier after their St James's Palace heroicsCredit: Edward Whitaker

June 2021

While Palace Pier lands the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, Stradivarius meets trouble in running as he finishes fourth behind Subjectivist in the Gold Cup. “It didn’t go to plan,” Gosden says.

October 2021

Palace Pier is beaten by Baaeed in his final race in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day and Gosden criticises Dettori. “Frankie said the pace was slow – it was too slow,” he says. “He regrets not committing earlier. There was too much looking around – and he knows that.”

June 2022

Dettori is beaten on Stradivarius in the Gold Cup, again finding trouble in running, and is seen exchanging strong words with Gosden, who is also critical of the rider once again to the media. The trainer further rebukes his rider the following day, saying Dettori should have ridden a better race and also won the Britannia Stakes on Saga. The following week, Dettori misses out on regular mounts Sunray Major and Stowell at Newmarket despite riding for Ralph Beckett at the meeting. The pair agree to "take a sabbatical" by mutual consent after a crunch meeting in Newmarket.

Read these next:

John Gosden and Frankie Dettori agree to 'take a sabbatical' after crunch talks

'Our hero overcomplicated it' – Gosden criticises Dettori despite Friday success

John Gosden: I wish we'd been handier and not had to go around a wall of horses

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