Royal Ascot review: Frankie Dettori swansong and some big winners

Andrew of FiosrachAndrew Watson27 June 2023
Courage Mon Ami ridden by Frankie Dettori ahead of Coltrane ridden by Oisin Murphy - June 2023

Courage Mon Ami ridden by Frankie Dettori ahead of Coltrane ridden by Oisin Murphy - June 2023

Andrew of Fiosrach gives us his account of Royal Ascot 2023, including Frankie Dettori's final appearance at the festival and a win for King Charles.

This year's Royal Ascot meeting was notable for multiple reasons - Frankie Dettori's swansong, some very big-priced winners and a few superb training performances.
Dettori capped his year-long retirement tour with the rides at Royal Ascot and although the meeting did not start as favourably as he would like, he had a meeting to remember.

He managed to ride five winners over the five-day meeting and was only pipped to the Leading Jockey's Crown by Ryan Moore whose sixth win came in the final race.

The main highlight, in my opinion, was Frankie winning the Ascot Gold Cup on the John Gosden-trained Courage Mon Ami. Frankie now has the most wins of any jockey at the Royal meeting with a total of 81 wins.
You could also argue that the win produced the training performance of the week. Courage Mon Ami had only won at Class 2 level before winning the Group 1 race readily.

Ryan Moore received his 10th jockey's title in 14 years and has 79 Royal Ascots to his name, so surely he'll overtake the departing legend next year.

The question is who can replace Frankie Dettori as the media darling of racing? Oisin Murphy perhaps, Tom Marquand or some of the young guns coming through like Kevin Stott, Benoit de la Sayette or Harry Davies.
Someone will need to take the Dettori mantle to keep racing on the front pages for the right reasons.
Another fantastic training performance came from Willie Mullins who produced Vauban, a reasonable hurdler, to win the Copper Horse Handicap like a proverbial good thing.
Vauban was backed into even money favourite and Ryan Moore rode him as if he was driving a Ferrari against Mini Metros.

He must come into Gold Cup considerations for next season but will have to be some horse to beat Courage Mon Ami.

However, one should never discount anything Willie Mullins plans to do. It's also worth mentioning Aiden O'Brien who won the Trainer's Title for the 12th time.

On a personal level, I was very pleased to end up with about 20 points profit with four winners from 15 bets and a few places at decent odds.

There were winners at odds 150/1 (488/1 on Betfair), 80/1, 50/1, 33/1, 25/1, 22/1 and 20/1, so there's no doubt some brave souls struck it lucky.
Paying extra places in the big field races and even backing two in the same race could bring returns if betting selectively.
In this racing enthusiast's humble opinion, Royal Ascot remains the best flat racing festival in the world.
It could be enhanced by increasing the number of overseas entrants, especially if the Japanese could be enticed to enter some of their bloodstock.
Prizemoney is good in UK terms but it's still tiny compared to festivals in the Middle East, United States and Japan.

It was pleasing to see King Charles delight at Desert Hero's victory. Hopefully, that will encourage him to have the same enthusiasm for this wonderful sport as his late mother and grandmother.

READ MORE: Tuesday evening racing tips for Newbury and Newton Abbot

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