'The guy's a legend' - Racing League chief hoping Dettori can lift crowd levels

As the Racing League heads to a sunny Lingfield on Thursday for its second meeting, chief executive Jeremy Wray is hoping that the "legend" Frankie Dettori's presence will be a major draw for racegoers.

Dettori will be riding for the Wales and the West team and Wray is delighted to have a jockey of his calibre to help support the seven-team competition.

He said: "When the guy has put as much into the sport as he has done, 30-odd years of – in my opinion – carrying the sport single-handedly just about, and he can still make time to come and have three rides to support the initiative, it's tremendous.

"They're never going to be the most exciting races he rides in or the most lucrative or the most high-profile but the fact is he sees the wider benefit to the sport. I think the guy's just a legend.

"We will be thrilled. I've messaged a couple of people who want to come along and they've said, 'Any chance of getting his autograph?', and the chances are they'll be able to do that because he gives his time so readily."

Doncaster had an estimated crowd of 2,200 but Wray thinks Lingfield's smaller venue will help enhance the atmosphere and he praised ITV Racing, which is showing all seven races, for the way it captured the fun of the event.

Coverage from Doncaster on ITV4 last week drew an average audience of 79,000, with a peak of 118,000.

"Doncaster is a big place, I think the atmosphere will be better at somewhere smaller – it will be interesting to see how it is at Lingfield," Wray said.

"When you've got space for 10,000 people but you have 2,000 there it can look a bit sparse. Last year I felt Lingfield, Windsor and Newcastle probably worked better.

"Having it on terrestrial television is a big plus. I like the way ITV does it. The idea is that this is meant to be fun, to be light-hearted and I think from that point of view it got the atmosphere absolutely right and the jockeys all seemed pretty relaxed."

Wray said there were "all sorts of factors at play" to explain just two races meeting the maximum quota of 14. The prolonged spell of dry weather is limiting the number of two-year-olds ready to run while no runners will be coming from Ireland because of the extra strain of travelling in the heatwave.

With temperatures of around 33C expected Lingfield has relaxed the dress code and supplied extra water stations to help racegoers cope with the heat.

Wray said: "You hope it doesn't put people off and people don't think it's too hot to come out. It's had a slight effect on horses travelling as well and I get that – not wanting to travel long distances – but better that than a monsoon where nobody comes out.

"I'm always loath to moan about the weather. I'm not going to be against anyone wearing shorts but I might be putting on a pair of trousers. I won't be wearing a suit and tie that's for certain, but I don't have the best legs so I'll be covering them up!"

Read more on the Racing League:

'Hopefully I'll do better than last year!' - Dettori returns to Racing League

Teamwork makes the dream work so give the Racing League a chance

'Taking a chance at big odds is enticing' - Keith Melrose's Racing League tips (£)

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