The weighroom door was besieged with autograph hunters, a round of applause greeted his entrance into the parade ring and in between Frankie Dettori was a beaming, accommodating and diminutive pied-piper figure to a record opening day crowd at the Tralee Festival last night.
And in an evening illuminated by a display of typical Italian panache, Dettori left it until the last of his three rides to give what the crowd of approximately 6,000 wanted to top it all off, winning on Allotrope at 5 to 2.
"Give them what they want," Dettori smiled and he did just that with a trademark flying dismount despite the modest Allotrope looking edgily at a cheering crowd he is unlikely to ever face again.
It was the ideal ending to the evening. The coming of Frankie had been well advertised in the local press and the centre of attention didn't disappoint. Posing for photographs with small children, obliging local radio with an articulate and flowing spiel on the current whip debate, saying all the right things about the track: Dettori smoothly coped with everything thrown at him and did it with an effervescent grin. Such was the public's response, the Tralee executive must have hugged itself.
"Is that Frankie?" queried a tiny youngster pointing at Michael Kinane as the horses went out for the seven-furlong handicap. He was one of the few in ignorance.
Dettori's first ride, Jay And-A, let the side down by finishing last. The second, Magic Annemarie in the sprint, ran wide into the straight and could only manage fifth, but Alltrope was a suitable finale. Frankie threw his goggles into the crowd of admirers and waved goodbye, secure in his popularity.
"I've had a great welcome. The people have paid me back by coming here and I'm happy to have paid them back by winning a race," said the centre of attention in that familiar singalong mixture of Milan and Muswell Hill. "The track was good, not as sharp as I thought it would be when I first saw it. I want to thank John Murtagh and John Oxx for letting me ride the winner," added Dettori who won the EP Taylor Stakes for Oxx on Timarida in 1995.
Dettori's wasn't the only flying dismount however. Stephen Craine won the other two flat races on two topweights, Diligent Dodger and En Retard, and entered into the spirit of the evening by ascending from the latter although with considerably less air to spare!
The veteran Diligent Dodger only won the Kelliher Handicap by a short head from Babe Ruth but possibly an even more exciting finish came at the end of the two mile handicap chase.
Flying In The Gale and Royal Ziero dominated their 11 opponents throughout but they were still locked together on the run-in. Royal Ziero looked to have just gained the advantage with yards to go but Adrian O'Shea galvanised one last effort out of Flying In The Gale to just get the nod.
It was a popular win for local trainer Tom Cooper and local owner Gerry Houlihan and Flying In The Gale could reappear here again on Thursday.
Racing closed with a popular success and there were two early winning favourites to provide the ammunition for that when Fairy Ridge made a winning debut over hurdles in the juvenile hurdle and Johnny Brushaside made a winning bow over fences in the Beginners Chase.
