Letter from Ascot: Newcomers and Stalwarts

There were a couple of noteworthy newcomers at Royal Ascot on opening day. Most notably, Meghan Markle rode in the third Royal Carriage with her new husband, Prince Harry. Besides Markle, sensational New York jockey Jose Ortiz also made his first appearance to the top hat and tails crowd.

Ortiz was blanked in his only two rides, but I have the feeling that he had two excellent learning experiences. Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) was prominent in the G1 Queen Anne S. only to even out on the unusual, undulating straightaway. In another Grade 1 event, the King's Stand S., he lost a nose photo for fourth at 40-1 in a field of fourteen aboard Bucchero (Kantharos). Ortiz has the talent and ambition to be the toast of London with the right set of riding engagements.

Markle, now known as the Duchess of Sussex, was easy to find–all one had to do was listen for the sound of cameras clicking away.

But the star of the day was jockey Frankie Dettori, who at age 47 brought a desire to win like nothing I had seen for decades. He missed his favorite race meet, Royal Ascot, last year because of a paddock injury. This year he joked he was wrapping himself in bubble paper between rides to be ready and able when called to the paddock.

Dettori is the leading rider of the young meet with three wins. In addition to Calyx (Kingman {GB}) in the G2 Coventry S., and a come-from-behind performance on Monarchs Glen (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the Wolferton S., his biggest win of the day was on Without Parole (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 St. James's Palace S., a race his father, jockey Gianfranco Dettori, won in 1975 aboard Bolkonski. Frankie's son, Rocco, is now riding in pony races, so we could have a third generation to wager on soon.

All three of his Ascot winners Tuesday were conditioned by trainer John Gosden, who is now the leading trainer of Royal Ascot 2018.

Ortiz watched from the jockey's room as a stellar crowd gathered, and he jokingly vowed to hold the trophy someday. The Duke and Duchess made the presentation to Dettori and Gosden.

For those who follow the top tier of Thoroughbred racing on both sides of the Atlantic, the feat of 72-year-old John Gunther, master of Glennwood Farm in Kentucky, takes the grand prize.

Along with his daughter, Tanya, Gunther bred Without Parole. He also bred a horse named Justify (Scat Daddy), who just won racing's most elusive prize, the Triple Crown.