Frankie Dettori and John Gosden: The Best Wins of Their Hugely Successful Partnership

From The Beatles and Oasis to Take That and Little Mix, many of us can remember exactly where we were when some of the biggest bands/groups on the planet announced their split to devastating fans.

In Flat racing, the equivalent of John, Paul, George and Ringo is Frankie Dettori and John Gosden, who will remain one of the most successful jockey-trainer combinations that the sport has ever seen for decades to come.

They have announced a ‘split’ of their own after more than seven years as a partnership, with the news coming after Gosden voiced his frustration with a number of Dettori’s rides at Royal Ascot – most notably Stradivarius’ hunt for a record-equalling fourth win in the Gold Cup.

Reports suggested that the pair met for a crunch meeting following the festival, and within 24 hours it was confirmed that they were to go their separate ways.

“Me and John had a meeting yesterday and we decided to give each other a break — a sabbatical,” Dettori confirmed.

“We are still good friends. For what John has done for me in the past I will forever be grateful, but at the moment we have decided it is better for the pair of us to be apart.”

Given that the Gosden yard handed the Italian 121 of his 194 rides in 2021 – contributing 31 of his 41 winners on UK soil – the decision could prove to have dramatic consequences for the 51-year-old’s career.

But the diminutive ace has pledged to ride on until the end of the 2023 season at least, and he clinched the first victory of his post-Gosden career at Newmarket just days later – which he celebrated with his trademark flying dismount.

“I’m not going to retire. I’m definitely intending to ride this year and next year, and after that I don’t know,” Frankie reiterated.

“It is a new start, and we will take it a step at a time. I will be back King George week and then on to (Glorious) Goodwood.”

So Dettori is looking to the future, but now is as good a time as any to reflect on the past too by running back some of the finest victories of the Frankie-Gosden reign of terror.

Golden Horn: Six Wins

Anthony Oppenheimer generally gets his hands on some excellent horses, and Golden Horn was certainly no exception.

Sent into training with Gosden in 2014, with whom the horse won his sole start as a two-year-old, it was his breakout in 2015 that was the most eye-catching.

With Dettori on board, Golden Horn would win the Dante Stakes before being supplemented – at a cost of £75,000 to Oppenheimer – into the Derby. And the three-year-old made no mistake, handing his owner a restorative £800,000 payday.

That gilded 2015 campaign also brought wins in the Eclipse and the Arc, and a high quality run in the Breeder’s Cup Turf also brought a second-place finish in a stellar year that saw Golden Horn crowned European Horse of the Year.

Enable: Fourteen Wins

In many ways, Enable was the quintessential Dettori-Gosden horse.

She got better and matured as she went through the ages, and while – like many before her – it was her three-year-old campaign that is best remembered, Enable was still winning majors at the age of six, including a third King George crown in 2020.

But it was that incredible 2017 season that will live long in the memories of race fans, with the filly winning the Cheshire, Yorkshire, Irish and Epsom Oaks before going on to hit the big time in the King George and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Cracksman: Seven Wins

Thanks to the trained eye of Gosden and the skill in the saddle of Dettori, Cracksman developed into the finest middle-distance horse on the planet as a three-year-old.

After winning an Epsom Derby trial, the Oppenheimer-owned horse finished third in the race proper before Dettori oversaw five consecutive victories – the Champion Stakes, the Great Voltigeur Stakes and the Prix Niel chief among them.

Crowned the Champion Three-Year-Old colt in 2017, Cracksman would also go on to prevail in the Champion Stakes as a four-year-old, before returning to France to win in the Prix Ganay.

Stradivarius: Sixteen Wins

Although hopes of winning a fourth Ascot Gold Cup were dashed in 2022, that is a rare blemish on the CV of the magnificent Stradivarius.

Dettori didn’t get his hands on the reins until the horse turned four, but this stayer was only just hitting his stride by then and together with his new jockey enjoyed a fantastic reign over the longer distances.

Stradivarius won owner Bjorn Nielsen a handsome £1 million bonus for winning the Yorkshire Cup, Lonsdale Cup, Goodwood Cup and the first of his Ascot Gold Cups in 2018, and incredibly followed up with the exact same regime a year later – banking his rather happy South African owner another seven-figure payday.

A three-time champion stayer, Stradivarius was still competing fiercely as an eight-year-old – testament to him and to the powers of the Gosden & Dettori partnership.