'Hopefully I'll do better than last year!' - Dettori returns to Racing League
Frankie Dettori brings a dash of glamour to the Racing League on Thursday when the seven-team competition rolls into Lingfield for its second meeting.
The three-time champion jockey makes his first appearance of the summer at the event after being persuaded to take part by Jamie Osborne.
Dettori, who missed last week's opening meeting at Doncaster as he was riding at Sandown on the same evening, has three rides for the Wales and the West team, managed by Osborne.
He said: "All I'll say is Jamie Osborne is a good talker and talked me into riding for his team at Lingfield. Hopefully I'll do better than I did last year in the Racing League and we'll give it a bash.
"I don't know much about my mounts, but they all look to have decent draws so hopefully we can pick up some points for the team."
Dettori first partners Postmark, who is part-owned by former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp, in the William Hill Bet Boost Racing League R11 (6.40). He will then take the ride on David Simcock's Fox Power in the William Hill Pick Your Places Racing League R12 (7.10), and finally Country Pyle in the finale, the William Hill Extra Place Races Racing League R14 (8.10), for William Muir and Chris Grassick.
Despite not having a winner at Doncaster, Wales and The West ended the night in third on 125 points, with all bar two of the team's 13 runners adding to the scoresheet.
Osborne said: "I think all in all we had a satisfactory first week. We are not too far off the pace. This is a long game and is not going to be won or lost in the first two weeks – you just don't want to get too far back. I think the competition is going to get tougher, but we have some good shots up our sleeve to play in the coming weeks."
Wales and the West and all the other teams are playing catch-up with London and The South, who are aiming to cement their position at the top of the table after four wins at Doncaster which yielded 174 points to put them 46 points clear of nearest challengers Yorkshire (128 points).
Matt Chapman, team manager for London and The South, said: "The pressure is on. It has been made perfectly clear in the Racing League team managers' WhatsApp group that the other managers want nothing more than for us to have a miserable failure on Thursday."
On his team's best chances, Chapman said: "I will be very disappointed if I don't get a good run out of Immortal Beauty (8.10) in the nursery for Richard Hannon. This is a horse who won at Newmarket last time and you would hope she is capable of doing something pretty good. We also have Sunningdale in the same race for Paul and Oliver Cole. I would like my chances here."
"The others I am really looking forward to include Neandra (7.40) in the mile-and-a-half handicap for Andrew Balding.
"All in all, I will be surprised if our points total doesn't increase quite significantly this week. But having said that, I'm very conscious we probably won't have the best of meetings up at Newcastle. We have made a good start, but there are other teams who will be stronger at the northern tracks later in the competition, so it is still all to play for."
Despite being based in the heart of The East team territory, Newmarket trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy represents London and The South and fields two runners.
He said: "I don't know why I'm not in the East team, but London and The South are going well so let's hope for some more points. Our best chance would be Royal Aviation [6.40], who tackles a mile and a quarter for the first time in the fourth race. We also have Street Kid, who is well drawn in the opener [5.10]. He's back off a break but is effective on the all-weather and should give a good account."
Scotland (98 points) were in the winner's enclosure at Doncaster a week ago with the Jim Goldie-trained Yaaser, and team manager Linda Perratt has her own stable in flying form, sending out five winners from her last seven runners.
She said: "I thought the opening night went very well. Our best chance now would look to be Le Forban [6.40]. He has won twice at Lingfield and Ryan Sexton takes 5lb off, which effectively brings him down to his last winning mark. Red October [7.10] has run well after a break before and is another with good course form. I think we have two live chances there."
The North are hoping Jamie Spencer can inspire a move up the table after ending night one sixth on 78 points. Spencer has three rides on the card, all trained by Richard Fahey.
Team manager Mick Quinn said: "I think we have a couple of nice chances with Life On The Rocks and Light Up Our Stars [both 7.10], and the same would apply to Fair Star and Desert Emperor [both 7.40]. It could be similar to last week really in that we had a slow start and then picked up as the night went on."
For their part, The East are currently in last place on 55 points, but it is early days and Roger Varian is among those out to boost their tally by fielding two runners.
He said: "We have Consensus De Vega in the second race over seven furlongs [5.40], but she has an outside draw which is not helpful. On the other hand, our other runner, Zenga, in the mile-and-a-quarter race [6.40] has a decent stall and was a winner last time. He goes there with a good shout."
Racing League round two: card and betting
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