Frankie Dettori maintained his narrow lead at the top of the jockeys' table yesterday as he and Kieren Fallon rode a winner apiece at Ripon. The Italian now has a 125 to 123 advantage over his chief rival in the race for the championship which he won in 1994 and 1995. A change of tactics and of venue saw Dettori gain his success on Folklore, who defied top weight in the Mark Birch Celebration Nursery. His mount, second at Beverley and Sandown previously also had to overcome a supposedly unfavourable high draw, coming from stall 16 in the five-furlong race to beat Far Removed by two and a half lengths.
Fallon had been forced to work harder to score on well-supported Cumbrian Cadet in the Racing Channel Auction Maiden. He switched his mount, backed from 9 to 2 into 5 to 2, from the inside to challenge on the stands' rail and then had to be at his strongest to catch favourite Cool Prospect inside the final furlong and score by half a length.
"Cumbrian Cadet goes better for Kieren than for anyone else," said winning trainer Tim Easterby. He gave him a brilliant ride. You can see why he's going to be champion jockey - if he isn't, he should be."
The winner had been the subject of a claim when second in a seller at York last week and Easterby admitted: "We were lucky to get him back."
Easterby narrowly missed a double as Sandmoor Chambray was caught on the line by Isitoff in the Steve Nesbitt Challenge Trophy Handicap. Stuart Williams was quick to pay tribute to successful rider Kevin Darley.
"Kevin is a brilliant jockey and has always been lucky for us," the trainer said. I reckon we'd have 10 or 15 more winners every year if Kevin rode for us all the time. Isitoff is very game. He's going to the sales and will make someone a lovely jumper."
Majaari is likely to be aimed at one of the big autumn juvenile races after a very smooth two-length defeat on Requestor in the EBF Sapper Maiden. But Jimmy McCrorie, travelling head lad to winning trainer Peter Walwyn, warned: "You won't see much of him as a two-year-old. He is a nice big horse and has the size and scope to be potentially a very nice three-year-old."
