3 minute read

Frankie fans were left cheering on Ladies Day at Royal Ascot following Courage Mon Ami courageous performance in the Gold Cup.

It looked like a cracking renewal on paper and certainly lived up to expectations with the John and Thady Gosden-trained Courage Mon Ami just edging out Andrew Balding's Coltrane in a pulsating finish.

As expected, Charlie Johnston's 2021 Gold Cup scorer Subjectivist took the field along at what looked a decent gallop. Frankie always looked happy with his position as the pair began to make their move between rivals entering the final four furlongs. The unbeaten gelded son of Frankel struck the front entering the final furlong and was made to pull out all the stops under a resistant Coltrane, who refused to lie down in the closing stages. However, Courage Mon Ami was just the stronger of the pair at the line and eventually prevailed by three-quarters of a length.

Front-runner Subjectivist stayed on resolutely to finish back in third having seemingly raced exuberantly in the early stages while Emily Dickinson was back in fourth.

Dettori said: "I didn't expect it. The last five years I've had Stradivarius, so the pressure was on. This one I thought was a bit of a chancer coming from handicaps, but John was confident. I rode him cold and it just happened – I got the splits when I wanted to and he showed a turn of foot. The last half a furlong, I couldn't give in to Oisin, I thought: 'no, we've got this far, please keep going'.

"It's unbelievable, on my last year winning the Gold Cup. Myself, The King and Queen Camilla had a talk beforehand about his win and my relationship with his mother, Queen Elizabeth, then the next race I go on and win the Gold Cup and he presents the trophy. It's amazing, really amazing.

"I wanted to ride Courage Mon Ami to run well, because I really don't know the horse and I didn't know his capability or if he was able to stay. I knew there would be pace, I wanted to swing out wide but Stéphane [Pasquier] kept me in and actually won me the race, because I thought: 'I'll cut the corner and see what happens'. Then it happened!

"Nine Gold Cups, what can you say? Amazing. I'm speechless because I didn't expect it, to be honest with you."

On receiving the Gold Cup from The King, he said: "It's my last year, so this is the only chance I had. It's pretty emotional. The King is a lovely man and Camilla is lovely. It is an honour to be able to ride for them in other races and to win the Gold Cup and be presented with the trophy by them."

He added: "I didn't believe it, to go from a handicap to a Gold Cup. But John Gosden is a great trainer and he does things like that, sometimes if I don't believe it, I'll just go along with it!"

On taking his children up onto the podium with him, he said: "I said 'listen, we won the Gold Cup, we can go up there and shake hands with The King', so it's a great thrill for them. Now they are old enough to understand. For the last 18 years, they've just thought I was a guy on the TV, maybe like Peppa Pig or something! So they really know what I'm doing."

John Gosden said: "You can't practise two and a half miles at home, but Frankie stayed cool and rode him cool in the dark down the inside, saving every inch. I saw he went to go outside turning into the straight and they said no, go back in, and luckily he managed to wriggle through and found a great run.

"Courage Mon Ami is a lovely horse who was bred by Mr [Anthony] Oppenheimer, who sold him. It costs a great deal of money for English breeders to keep their studs going. He's a gelding by Frankel, he's unbeaten, but he's gone from the all-weather to Goodwood to here, so full achievement to the horse."

Asked to reflect upon the fact that it was Courage Mon Ami's fourth start, Gosden said: "I don't think I'll try it again. Richard Brown [bloodstock agent] has done a very clever job – he was asked to find horses to come to Royal Ascot [for the owners Wathnan Racing]. They are hard to buy but both horses he found, Gregory and Courage Mon Ami, were owner/breeder horses. The costs of keeping a stud going means owners have to sell, but Mr Oppenheimer is here and, of course, Mrs [Philippa] Cooper of Normandie Stud [who bred Gregory]. It's tough to run a stud and pay the stallion nominations and the whole deal, so they have to sell. They keep the fillies and sell the colts.

"A great ride for Frankie. It crowns his week – he's only good in long-distance races now! He's had a phenomenal career. Thirty years we've been working together on and off. We've had one argument in 30 years. How many marriages can say that? We patched that up after five days and were winning Group Ones in Deauville straight after that – we had a disagreement, that's fine, that's professional, and we kicked on after that. Look at the result today."

The runner-up Coltrane's rider Oisin Murphy said: "He relaxed great and travelled round super. I felt I could go and win the race. Frankie's come with me and it was a good battle, and Frankie came out on top."

Charlie Johnston said of Subjectivist: "He's run a great race. I was sort of expecting he would win or we would be out with the washing! It's been a long road and just being here is pretty special. Let's hope he's OK and we can go again."