GLORIOUS GOODWOOD IN PICTURES: Dettori's the Darling of the Downs again

There are two things, among others, that Glorious Goodwood wouldn't be the same without - Ladies' Day and Frankie Dettori.

And on Thursday, another huge Goodwood crowd got both - in fine style.

The sunshine brought out thousands of ladies in outfits and hats of all colours, shapes and sizes - see a gallery of pictures by our photogrphers Chris Hatton and Malcolm Wells by clicking on the ‘Glorious Goodwood’ link to the right of this story.

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While the race card brought a famous back-to-back double for Dettori, who’s had a love affair with the racecourse since riding his first UK winner there in 1987.

He wasn’t the only rider celebrating a double - former champion jockey Ryan Moore bettered his four second places so far this week with two victories.

Dettori’s big moment was another win in the Artemis Goodwood Cup - his third in the history of the Thursday feature race, that on top of his four Sussex Stakes wins and two in the other Group 1 event at Glorious, the Nassau.

Opinion Poll was his mount and he had already told anyone who cared to listen 24 hours earlier - after his first Glorious win of the week - that he had a decent chance in the race.

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He was proved absolutely right despite Overturn (Richard Hughes) adopting his customary front-running tactics. Hughes’ advantage began to dwindle heading inside the final two furlongs.

Mahmood Al Zarooni’s Opinion Poll picked up to claim the lead passing the one-furlong marker and he held off the Saeed bin Suroor-trained Lost In The Moment, also trained by Godolphin, by a head.

Dettori, who has four times been top jockey at Glorious Goodwood and now must have his eye on the prize again, said: “He’s an honest horse and never runs a bad race. He’s got a lot of courage and is a very hard horse to pass.

“The ground was plenty quick enough for him. This horse is quite lazy, so I couldn’t take a chance to go through them. I took him on the outside and got him going in plenty of time and as it happened I was there plenty early enough.

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“He decided to put the brakes on a bit and luckily the line was just there for me.”

Half an hour later, Dettori was back in the winner’s enclosure after a fine ride to carry Meeznah home comfortably at 6/1 in the i-Shares Fillies’ Stakes. Shankardeh was second, Motrice third.

That was the biggest win of trainer David Lanigan’s career and he said: “She’s an incredibly lazy work-horse and very hard to get fit. If anything, she’s got worse from three to four.

“She would have hated the ground last time at Newmarket but she ran very well and I thought she would come on for it. She really likes quick ground and I think the Park Hill at Doncaster would be perfect for her.”

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Dettori was also happy with his double even if he did look in some discomfort as he rode the winner back to the enclosure.

He said: “I’m only in discomfort when talking not riding winners. When you ride a winner like that the pain goes away.

“I can have next week off but this is Goodwood. It’s the winners that keep me going.”

That brought Dettori level with Hughes at 3-3 in the race to be the 2011 festival’s top rider - but Hughes edged back in front with a sensational success on 16/1 shot Casual Glimpse in the Tatler Stakes ahead of Dimension and Kieren Fallon.

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But creeping up on the rails is Moore, whose two Sir Michael Stoute-trained winners bookended the day’s card.

He kicked off day three in the Betfred The Bonus King Stakes with a close win on 4/1 favourite Labarinto, just ahead of Richard Hughes on Chain Lightning.

Moore said: Moore said: “He’s a nice little horse and the race worked out pretty smoothly for us.

“He just squeezed out coming out of the stalls, which we didn’t need, so I was a bit far back than I would have liked to have been. When the gaps came he had enough foot to take them and he picked up well enough.”

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Sussex-based Moore was top dog again in the last as he guided Kinyras home at 4/1 in the betfred.com Stakes.

Elsewhere on the card, Jamie Spencer was victorious on Masamah in the Group 2 Audi King George Stakes, a 4/1 joint second favourite trained by Kevin Ryan, while Neil Callan was the other jockey to go first past the post on day three with a success on 4/1 favourite Gifted Girl in the EBF Medicean New Ham Fillies Stakes.

Ladies’ Day had begun with a race for female celebrities to raise money for the Great Ormond Street Hospital. The new feature of Glorious won by Burberry model Edie Campbell on Harrodian Hotshot, but was soured when Annette Mason had to be taken to hospital after a nasty fall from her mount Three Crowns. She was not reported to have been seriously injured.

The day was another success on the crowd front for Goodwood. The Gordon Enclosure sold out, continuing the trend set on Wednesday for attendances bigger than the equivalent day last year.

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Tickets have also gone well for Friday and Saturday - with two more Gordon Enclosure sell-outs on the cards. Call 01243 755055 or go to www.goodwood.co.uk if you’re thinking of going.

STEVE BONE

Don’t miss more live coverage of the festival on this website from Friday morning.

* To view the gallery of pictures, click on the ‘Glorious Goodwood’ link at the top right of this page. All images with a reference number (ex: 112625-9135) can be ordered by calling 02392 664488.

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