Back in 1996, the irrepressible Frankie Dettori had completed the unprecedented feat of booting home seven consecutive winners – one of which happened to be Diffident, now resident at the Yeravada Stud in Pune – at Ascot's late September meeting. Due to the Italian's immense popularity, every small punter followed his mounts through that memorable afternoon and it is estimated that by the end of the day British bookmakers were on the hook for some forty million pounds.

Last Saturday, it appeared to be a case of déjà vu yet again at the corresponding meeting when Dettori, after finishing in the ruck in the opener, brought his next four rides of the afternoon into the winner's enclosure. His final mount, Aaim To Prosper (spelt that way), could not get the job done in the last race, thereby saving the bookmaking fraternity from an estimated £10 million payout. As it is, the quadruple at 217 to 1 cost them about half that amount.

None of Dettori's efforts was more praiseworthy than the extremely narrow nose verdict that he secured in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (8 fur.) astride Poet's Voice (Dubawi-Bright Tara, by Chief's Crown), who just touched off the luckless Rip Van Winkle (by Galileo). Red Jazz (by Johannesburg) was a further half length behind in third. Saeed bin Suroor trains the winner, who sported the blue silks of Godolphin, the flagship outfit of the Rulers of Dubai.

In the absence of Canford Cliffs, withdrawn by his trainer Richard Hannon after an unsatisfactory scope, the 2000 Guineas winner Makfi (also by Dubawi) was the evens favourite but ran dismally. His pilot Christophe Soumillon felt something was not quite right with the colt, who is to stand at stud in Britain next year. "He was really nervous and fractious and tried to get under the gate. He has never been like that before," he said.

Meanwhile Dettori commented: "It's been a long time and I am full of emotions. I just don't know what to say. It's just fantastic." It was not quite such a great result for the Aidan O'Brien team – after missing out on "Rip", O'Brien was called up before the Ascot stewards and fined £1,000 for breaking the rules relating to parading the runners in the proper sequence.

Sharing the honours with Dettori was trainer bin Suroor, chief conditioner of the Godolphin team on the racetrack. Earlier in the afternoon he sent out White Moonstone (Dynaformer - Desert Gold, by Seeking the Gold) to win the Gr.1 Meon Valley Stud Fillies Mile. Dettori switched the American-bred to the centre of the track and reeled in the front-running Theyskens' Theory (by Bernardini), who weakened to end third, with O'Brien's Together (by Galileo) splitting the pair to gain runner-up honours. The odds-on winner stretched her unbeaten record to 4-from-4 and has emerged as the leading Classic prospect from amongst the fillies.

The afternoon was not all about Godolphin and its team members. In fact, arguably the most impressive performance came from a young two-year-old named for another racing powerhouse's much-missed trainer. Frankel (Galileo-Kind, by Danehill), whose namesake passed away in November last year, is yet another nascent champion from Juddmonte. How do they keep churning out these stars, one may well ask? And the answer would be: professionalism, great teamwork and more than a touch of inspiration from the boss, Prince Khalid Abdullah.

Entrusted to Henry Cecil, Frankel has been brought along in splendid fashion by the master of Warren Place. A debut win at Newmarket in August displayed a glimmer of talent – not every horse can score at its first appearance. Sent out next in a conditions event in which he faced just two opponents, he trotted home 13 lengths clear. And here, in the Gr.2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes (8 fur.), he simply trounced four impertinent rivals, checking in 10 lengths clear under an impassive Tom Queally.

Even Dettori was amazed: "He was mightily impressive. He's won his last two races by 25 lengths so he looks very exciting. Hopefully, he'll go to the Racing Post, we'll go to the Dewhurst with Saamidd and if everything goes according to plan we'll meet next year." However, it is more likely that the four-legged Frankel will tackle the Dewhurst and hopefully set the seal on a memorable season.

He is, of course, the brightest male Classic hope for 2011. However, the maestro, Henry Cecil had a note of caution regarding his Derby prospects: "He's improving, ticking all the right boxes but it's just a question of what he did on the day. Over the last months he's really started to improve, improve and improve. He has a lot of talent and the way he works I don't think I've had a better two-year-old since Wollow and that's going back nearly 40 years. I don't believe in ante-post betting myself but I'd question if he'd get the Derby trip. The dam was very fast and his dam side has come out a lot in him."

United States
Although it's already fall and rather late in the year to be running "Derbies", there were a couple of such events on Saturday, September 25th.

Formerly a Gr.1 event, the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs now sports a Gr.2 badge. Nonetheless, its $500,000 prize is not exactly chicken feed and this year's renewal drew half a dozen competitors from East and West and even one from the North, the Canadian hope Golden Moka (by Golden Missile). The winner turned out to be a relatively unknown albeit rapidly-improving runner, who could well mature into a star. Adele Dilschneider's Apart (Flatter - Detach, by Unbridled), whose fifth dam is Priceless Gem, streaked home in engaging style with a blistering late run on his stakes debut.

Once again Albert M. Stall (Jr.) has shown why Claiborne Farm and its associates/partners, of which Ms. Dilchneider is one, employ him to school their thoroughbreds. The former geology student brings his wards along patiently and extracts significant improvement in them as they progress. He has formed a successful partnership with rider Jesse Campbell, son of a jockey and twin brother of another, and they have been striking at a healthy 25% clip in the past couple of months. And Campbell rose to the occasion here with a ground-saving ride before circling his rivals to dart home in exhilarating fashion.

One of the leading trainers based in New York is the very popular Nick Zito. Dealt a fairly strong hand with his three-year-olds of 2010, he managed to secure the runner-up spot in the Gr.1 Kentucky Derby (through Ice Box, by Pulpit), the same position in the Gr.1 Belmont Stakes and Gr.1 Travers Stakes (both through Fly Down, by Mineshaft) and also a third in the Gr.1 Preakness Stakes (through Jackson Bend, by Hear No Evil). Still, it would have been nice to win one of those!

Keeping in mind the adage that "good things come to those who wait", it was only a matter of time before one of Zito's sophomores popped into the winner's enclosure. That honour fell to Thoroughbred Legends Racing Stable's $700,000 yearling purchase, Morning Line (Tiznow - Indian Snow, by A.P. Indy), making his stakes debut. The occasion was the $1 million Gr.2 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing, Philadelphia, and the manner of the colt's victory was unusual.

With Johnny Velasquez up, Morning Line led almost all the way until passed by A Little Warm (by Stormin Fever) at the quarter pole. Along came First Dude (by Stephen Got Even) charging on the outside, but Morning Line who looked done for fought back along the rail to settle the issue at the wire. It was a neck to the unlucky First Dude, whose connections must have thought for a moment that he was sure to prevail. A nose further behind was A Little Warm, this place-getting trio well clear of the rest.

“It’s just gratifying,” Zito said in the winner’s circle. “I’m human... You got to be content, I tried to be content, but when you’re in a sport and you’re competitive, it hurts. But I’m extremely blessed this year to be in every single big 3-year-old race... I’m very, very gratified to win the Pennsylvania Derby for a third time.” Zito's previous winners of this event were Sun King (2005) and Anak Nakal (2008).

The other instructive feature in the US on Saturday was the $150,000 Gr.2 Gallant Bloom Handicap (6.5 fur.) at Belmont Park. The better-fancied runners all seemed to be making heavy weather of it when 25 to 1 Moontune Missy (by Forest Wildcat) raised the spectre of a rank outsider prevailing by setting sail for home in the straight. Frenchman Julien Leparoux, recently repaired after an injury, had other ideas. He galvanized his mount My Jen (Fusaichi Pegasus – Mekko Hokte, by Holy Bull) into getting up at 12 to 1. The My Jen-Moontune Missy exacta (forecast) paid $378.20 for a $2 wager!

“Last time at Saratoga, that track was very speed-biased,” said Eddie Kenneally, trainer of the winner, “plus our filly was coming off a seven-month layoff. So to finish second to Rapport was a big effort and we knew she’d benefit from that and move forward.”