'I’m so, so chuffed' - Frankie Dettori gets his winner as Lord North claims a third Dubai Turf

Frankie Dettori was welcomed back into the winner's enclosure with rapturous applause and cheers after Lord North won a record third DP World-sponsored Dubai Turf.

The legendary rider, who was retained by Godolphin and based in the Emirate for 18 years, returned to Meydan for his final World Cup meeting on the latest leg of his global retirement tour and was rewarded with Lord North's brave victory, which he celebrated with his famous flying dismount.

He partnered Lord North to a dead-heat finish in last year's race when sharing the honours with the Japanese champion Panthalassa, but there was a further three-quarters of a length between them and another Japanese challenger this time, as they denied Danon Beluga comfortably, despite the rider dropping his whip inside the 300-metre mark. 

“It’s brilliant,” Dettori said. “I came into today thinking I’d got four or five decent rides, but it didn’t work out. It’s my last year and Dubai has been my second home for so many years. I’m not emotional actually but I’m so, so chuffed.”

John Gosden instigated a high-profile sabbatical with the jockey last summer, but embraced him in the winner's enclosure and was full of praise for the part he played in the success. 

Lord North: three-time winner of the Dubai TurfCredit: Edward Whitaker

He said: “He’s a great mate and we sat on the bench before in the jockeys' room talking about the race. He’s had a wonderful time in Santa Anita and I’ve never seen him like it – he looks sharp and well and he’s in top order.”

Lord North first hit the headlines when winning the Cambridgeshire as a three-year-old and was winning his fourth Group 1 four years on having undergone several physical issues, and his trainer paid tribute to his remarkable constitution. 

“He’s very special to come and do that three years running,” he said. “He’s had a lot of problems, none of his own doing, but particularly with the throat issue with a nasty abscess there, so he’s done incredibly well. 

“The ground was quick enough for him but he's just a star horse. It was a great performance and a lovely ride because Frankie knows him so well. Like Stradivarius, he’s a real favourite in the yard because he’s such a wonderful character of a horse, and he’s very brave because he’s had a lot of problems to deal with.

"I’m lucky he’s a gelding because he’d have gone to stud otherwise.”

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