Barzalona to deputise for Dettori on Delegator at Royal Ascot
Published:Mickael Barzalona is arguably the most talked about jockey in horse racing at present since winning the Epsom Derby and a two-day Frankie Dettori ban has now given him a great chance of tasting further success at Royal Ascot.
Barzalona crossed the finishing line standing up in his stirrups when guiding Pour Moi to victory at Epsom and Royal Ascot presents his next chance of adding to his big-race haul.
The 19-year-old is 12/1 in the Royal Ascot odds to finish the five-day meeting with the most winners and his chances of being named top jockey have been handed a substantial boost.
Dettori will be unable to ride over the closing two days of Royal Ascot after being hit with a ten-day ban by Epsom stewards for failing to ride Blue Bunting all the way to the finish line in the Oaks, with the horse eventually finishing fourth.
This left Godolphin without a regular rider for the finale of Royal Ascot, but they have now decided that Barzalona is their best option.
Simon Crisford, racing manager to Godolphin, said: “Mickael is set to ride for us on the last two days of Ascot when his main ride will be Delegator in the Golden Jubilee.
“He will ride one of our three entries in the Group Two Hardwicke Stakes on the same day, which are Passion for Gold, Campanologist and Calvados Blues. Johnny Murtagh is also likely to ride for us in this race.”
Former 2000 Guineas runner-up Delegator is 4/1 in the Royal Ascot betting to win the Golden Jubilee Stakes and could have now found his optimum distance over 6f.
In his first start at the trip Delegator landed the Duke of York Stakes at York last month and it would be no surprise to see the horse being given a similar ride to that of Pour Moi in the Derby.
Delegator is best when patiently ridden towards the rear of the field before being produced late on and this is what Barzalona did with Pour Moi when snatching victory in the final strides at Epsom.
