It was all about Frankie Dettori on the final day of York's Ebor meeting and Willie Mullins' Absurde provided him with back-to-back victories in the Sky Bet Ebor on what was likely his last ride at the track.
The crowd-favourite Italian had already produced a flying dismount just thirty-odd minutes before heading out for his final ride on the Knavesmire, with Kinross claiming the Group 2 City Of York Stakes for the second time. "It will be difficult," Frankie told the cameras regarding his chances of landing the Ebor, but there's seemingly nothing this man cannot do on his final season in the saddle and a moment of pure brilliance was what York racegoers were about to witness.
Willie Mullins' charge disappointed over hurdles at the Galway Festival but had finished runner-up to stablemate Vauban at Royal Ascot in June. The return to the flat, combined with the 'Frankie' factor, saw Absurde well towards the fore of the market and the five-year-old was sent off just 7/1 to give Mullins his second success in the feature handicap, having landed the contest with Sesenta in 2009.
It wasn't all plain sailing for Dettori on his final ride at York, with Absurde having to be led down to the start by the 52-year-old. However, the Mullins-trained gelding showed no signs of that behaviour during the race.
Much like on Trawlerman 12 months ago, Frankie would have to work his magic from stall 24 and the Italian opted for similar tactics by staying wide on the track early on. Ryan Moore chose a similar path on his mount before the pair of experienced riders crossed over to join the rest of the field. The field panned out across the track and the eye was instantly drawn to Absurde, who came to the front towards the stands' side rail travelling powerfully. Dettori kicked his partner for home with a couple of furlongs to run, but the challengers soon emerged from the pack with both Live Your Dream and market leader Sweet William (5/2) hunting him down. The latter, trained by John and Thady Gosden, looked to get upsides but Absurde, galvanised by an all-action Dettori, found plenty for pressure and went on to score by half a length. The same distance was the gap back to Live Your Dream in third.
Grinning like a Cheshire Cat, Frankie Dettori told ITV Racing: "In the last 100 yards I saw Rab [Havlin] coming [on Sweet William], my best mate, and I thought 'that's it I'm beat', but all credit to him [Absurde] – he showed some guts and stuck his neck out,"
"He's a horse that needs cover and I found myself in the front three out so all I was thinking was I'd messed it up.
"What can I say, I've won the Ebor on my last ride [at York] – it's mad. I thought if I win on Kinross then great, but I didn't expect this one so it's double sweet."
Paddy Power cut the winner from 10-1 to 8/1 for both the Cesarewitch and the Irish Cesarewitch, while the same firm go 20/1 for the Melbourne Cup.
'The race that stops a nation' is one of the few major prizes that eludes the Italian maestro's glistening trophy cabinet and Dettori suggested he would be more than happy to take the ride on Absurde in his final search for Melbourne Cup glory.
He added: "I did say to Willie I was going Down Under so I've asked him to consider me, and he said he will, so we'll see!"
Mullins said: "Frankie has shown us what he can do. I thought he was beaten half a furlong out; I don't know where Frankie got his energy from in the last 100 yards.
"He pulled that one out of the fire I thought, he was brilliant on him.
"He's a monkey and he always is at home, but he hasn't done anything like that for a while [refused to go to the start]. It's what he does if you let him get away with it. He's been very good at home recently, but it is in him.
"I'll have to have a word with the owners about Melbourne, they are at a family do today but I'm sure they'd love to go.
"He'll have no problem passing the vet, but if they do a brain scan, he might have a problem!
"What a remarkable jockey, you guys have known for a long time, but I thought Frankie was brilliant."
