The Leader Newspaper
By Andrew Atkinson
Frankie Dettori rode Mother Earth – second-string behind Aiden O’Brien’s Santa Barbara – to a length victory ahead of Saffron Beach and Fev Rover, in the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 2.
“Come on, me! I’m super-excited to win that,” said Dettori, who has ridden more than 250 Group 1 winners.
“I didn’t have the pressure of riding the favourite and I had a very willing partner with a filly that I knew was going to give me everything,” he said.
“Mother Earth is a very good filly, always was. It was unfair to Santa Barbara (fourth) to come, but we had to come, with a view to coming back to the Oaks. She had to run – she’s only a baby,” reasoned O’Brien.
Dettori delivers O Brien rare 1,000 Guineas hat-trick
Issued on: 2 min
Newmarket (United Kingdom) (AFP)
Frankie Dettori punched home Mother Earth to win the 1,000 Guineas for trainer Aidan O Brien who landed Sunday s English classic for the third successive season.
The last time a trainer celebrated three in a row in the mile showpiece at Newmarket was George Lambton back in 1918.
All the talk in the run-up to the race had been of O Brien s Santa Barbara, who was sent off at 5-2 joint favourite.
But with under two furlongs to go Dettori made his move on the lesser fancied stablemate Mother Earth and the 10-1 shot held off all challengers to supply Dettori with his fourth 1,000 at the ripe old age of 50.
Dettori Lands One Thousand Guineas on Mother Earth bloodhorse.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bloodhorse.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Chapple-Hyam overjoyed as Guineas runner-up Saffron Beach shows her quality
By Andy Stephens@StevoGG
Saffron Beach had finished runner-up in the QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Sunday.
The Newmarket trainer is hugely respected among her peers but has never trained anything more significant than a Group Three winner. A near-miss in one of the season s most prestigious races gave her a huge thrill. Can you just say that again, that sounded good! she said to Racing TV s Tom Stanley after he had begun his interview with her by saying Saffron Beach had finished second in the Guineas.
“What can I say? Aidan O’Brien is just a genius, she added. He is hard to take on and I can’t wait for him to retire!