North American Handicappers' Corner: Dettori in flying form in Canada

Frankie Dettori doing his best Felix Baumgartner

Simon Rowlands runs the rule over a momentous weekend in North America.

Sunday was quite a day for successful leaps.

At one end of North America, Felix Baumgartner broke the world skydiving record in New Mexico, watched by millions as he free-fell 128,000 feet. At the other, and at almost the same time, Baumgartner's fellow forty-something Frankie Dettori was performing his famous flying dismount from Joshua Tree in the Woodbine winner's enclosure.

The scales of the leaps were somewhat different, of course: Baumgartner's feat is one for the ages, whereas Dettori's from less than six feet up was a celebration of a victory that will soon fade into history. But the significance of Dettori's success in the G1 Canadian International should not be underestimated in horseracing terms.

It is generally acknowledged that Dettori is at a crossroads in his career. He has been ousted from big-race rides by his retaining owner Godolphin and even picked up a spare for Godolphin's biggest rival Coolmore on Camelot in the Arc.

He was a man with a point to prove. On Sunday he proved that point.

His front-running and rail-hugging ride on Joshua Tree - an able but not exceptional Group/Graded performer - was simply outstanding, and it probably made the difference between victory and defeat.

Joshua Tree responded gamely and just held fast-finishing fellow-Brit Dandino (ran to 117), with ex-Brit Forte dei Marmi (ran to 116) third and another Brit in Wigmore Hall (a fair bit better than his 114 given how things unfolded) in fourth.

In terms of Timeform ratings, Joshua Tree did not even match, let alone surpass, his previous best of 121, running to 118. In terms of prize money, this was worth a cool $1.5m. And, in terms of vindication of the man on board, it is difficult to put a figure on such an effort.

If boldly going where others fear to go was the theme of the week, then the supporting G1s on Woodbine's Sunday card provided further support for taking up a challenge.

Where Brits and ex-Brits dominated the feature event, it was the French and ex-French who took centre stage in the E P Taylor Stakes.

The Francois Doumen-trained and Gerald Mosse-ridden Siyouma came out on top, having never been far away while the pace was steady, and ran to a Timeform figure of 118, compared to her 119 when winning the Sun Chariot at Newmarket the time before. Chasing her home were fellow-French Pagera and ex-French Dream Peace, who both ran to 114.

The Nearctic Stakes went to the US-trained Next Question, stepping up markedly in class, from the British-trained Night Carnation. Timeform ratings of 113 and 108 on the first two show this was anything but a strong race of its type.

The G1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup the day before at Woodbine was a stronger affair, which went the way of Dayatthespa.

The run of the race helped the Chad Brown-trained filly, who dictated matters and came home in a sharp 23.6 seconds for the last quarter. But she still deserves plenty of credit for accounting for 116-rated pair Centre Court and Samitar (who were split by 112-rated Better Lucky) and is now on 118.

The other racing in North America in the latest week was of a lesser calibre, but it did turn up a smart effort by Boisterous (rated 118) under a penalty in the G3 Knickerbocker Stakes at Belmont and some meaningful performances by juveniles on the Monday.

Noble Tune ran to 114 in winning the G3 Pilgrim at Belmont, Watsdachances ran to 113 in winning the G3 Miss Grillo there and Double McTwist ran to 115 in landing the non-graded Bull Page at Woodbine by fully eight and a half lengths.

These youngsters remain some way behind the divisional leader Shanghai Bobby (rated 123p), but each of them has potential and the Breeders' Cup on November 2 and 3 could see a shake-up.

Lesser pickings (there are no G1s scheduled in North America) are on offer between now and then.