John Gosden and Frankie Dettori to ‘take a sabbatical’

John Gosden and Frankie Dettori have agreed to “take a sabbatical” following a meeting in Newmarket on Friday.

Having enjoyed huge success together over the years there were clear signs of strain between trainer and rider at Royal Ascot last week, with Gosden publicly criticising Dettori following his ride on Stradivarius, who finished third in his bid for a fourth victory in the Gold Cup.

The narrow defeat of the Queen’s Saga in the following Britannia Stakes further exacerbated the situation before the brilliant success of Inspiral in Friday’s Coronation Stakes gave the combination a welcome boost.

However, Dettori was not booked to ride any of the Gosden team’s three runners at Newmarket on Saturday, despite being at the July Course to partner the Ralph Beckett-trained Lezoo in the Listed Maureen Brittain Memorial Empress Fillies’ Stakes, leading to speculation of a potential split.

In a statement released on Friday evening, Gosden senior confirmed he and Dettori had met at his Clarehaven base earlier in the day.

The statement read: “Following speculation in the press, Frankie and I have amicably decided to take a sabbatical from the trainer/jockey relationship but we remain the closest of friends and colleagues.

“Frankie has been – and always will be – one of the family here so I wanted to meet face to face after he returned from his post Ascot holiday.

“Frankie is the most superb international jockey and, together, we have achieved significant successes at various times over the last three decades with a number of horses including, most recently, Golden Horn, Enable, Palace Pier, Too Darn Hot and Stradivarius.

“I do not intend to appoint a stable jockey at Clarehaven.”

Dettori was unavailable for comment.

Speaking earlier on Friday, Dettori’s manager Peter Burrell said he expected the popular Italian to “come out fighting” if his professional relationship with John and Thady Gosden came to an end - and that, whatever the outcome, he expected the 51-year-old to bounce back.

“He’s riding in Istanbul on Sunday and he’s got a ride at Newmarket on Saturday. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people out there who won’t be watching him sitting in a weighing room and are only too happy to put him up on their horses,” Burrell said on Nick Luck’s Daily Podcast.

“He’s absolutely fired up. As we know we’ve had several peaks and several troughs and that’s when he’s at his most dangerous – he’ll come out fighting. He’s much tougher than people think.”

Burrell added: “I’ve known John for a very, very long time and I just don’t see any relationships upset in this way.

“If there is to be an ending, I just wish it would be clean and then everybody can walk through the room and carry on speaking to each other because there’s no point having a row or a fallout – if it’s over it’s over.”