FRANKIE Dettori was in unstoppable form on the final day of Royal Ascot.
The Italian is a force of nature at the Royal meeting and he was at his scintillating best on Saturday when riding a 150-1 treble.
He kicked things off with victory on Wesley Ward’s speed machine Campanelle in the Queen Mary before bagging a Group 1 double on Alpine Star and Palace Pier.
And it was the latter who was the star of the show, as he swooped down the wide outside under a vintage Dettori ride to collar last year’s champion two-year-old Pinatubo in the St James’s Palace Stakes.
The son of Kingman is still unbeaten after four starts and Dettori reckons the world is his oyster.
Dettori grinned: “We’ve always thought a lot of him, but he’s been a bit sleepy in the mornings and we were scratching our heads.
“It was very hard to even get him fit and John thought he’d send him to Newcastle for a handicap to wake him up and it did.
“We threw him in the deep end today, but we knew in the back of our minds he was a good horse in a big body – we just weren’t sure how good he was.
“I went wide, round the whole field and he galloped out good. It looked like the Guineas form stood up and he showed me today potentially what I thought he was going to be.
“He’s so laid back he could probably get 10 furlongs, but at the moment a mile is what he wants and I’m sure John will have a plan.”
In firing in a hat-trick of winners, Dettori equalled Pat Eddery’s record of 73 winners at Royal Ascot.
He added: “To equal Pat Eddery’s record of 73 is special. I sat next to him for 15 years, he was one of my heroes, his nickname was God so it gives me great satisfaction.”
Dettori has struck up a close friendship with Wesley Ward and the American was full of praise for his pal after he guided 9-2 shot Campanelle to a gutsy success in the Queen Mary.
Ward said: “We were narrowly beaten last year and we’ve had some near misses this year, so we needed that.
“The owners are big supporters of mine, they obviously had Lady Aurelia with me, and with Frankie, who rode such a brilliant race – it’s great.
“My assistant has done a great job, I’ve such a great team, and words can’t describe how I feel right now – it means more given this is not a normal year.”
The one Ascot Group 1 missing from Dettori’s trophy cabinet was the Coronation Stakes, and he barely had to break sweat aboard Jessie Harrington’s Alpine Star.
She hugged the rail throughout and scooted clear of her rivals, with Quadrilateral running flat in third.
Dettori said: “Now I can say I have really conquered Ascot completely now! It’s a big tick in one of my boxes. I’m delighted for all people concerned.”
Harrington added: “We were kind of thinking of going for the French Guineas, but we weren’t allowed to go there and then with Albigna going for the Irish Guineas we thought we’d send Alpine Star to Ascot.
“I’m very lucky to have fillies like that. She was amazing. She was having her first run of the year. I was worried all the other fillies had had a run and she hadn’t.”
Elsewhere, Nando Parrado became the longest-priced winner in Royal Ascot history when winning the Coventry at 150-1 for Clive Cox and Adam Kirby, while Charlie Fellowes’ Chiefofchiefs won the opener at a measly 20-1.
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