Frankie Dettori Repeats as Longines World's Best Jockey
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Photo: Edward Whitaker/Racing Post
Frankie Dettori celebrates his seventh Gold Cup victory during the 2019 Royal Ascot meeting
Frankie Dettori has been named Longines World's Best Jockey for the second consecutive year, the first rider to do so back to back, the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities announced Nov. 29. Now the winner of the award in three of the past five years, he will be honored Dec. 6 in Hong Kong.
A dominant force throughout the year, Dettori won eight of the world's Top 100 group or grade 1 races aboard seven different horses. His qualifying victories came in the Prince of Wales's Stakes (Crystal Ocean), Gold Cup (Stradivarius), Grand Prix de Saint‐Cloud (Coronet), Coral-Eclipse (Enable), King George VI & Queen Elizabeth QIPCO Stakes (Enable), Qatar Sussex Stakes (Too Darn Hot), William Hill St. Leger Stakes (Logician), and QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (Star Catcher).
The scoring process rewards jockeys for finishing in the top three, giving Dettori a total of 102 points on the year. Second place went to Zac Purton, who finished with 88 points, while Hugh Bowman, the 2017 Longines World's Best Jockey, was third with 86 points.
Dettori is the only three-time winner of the Longines World's Best Jockey award, which was established in 2014. Ryan Moore is a dual winner, having won in the inaugural year and in 2016.
A ceremony will be held during the gala dinner of the Longines Hong Kong International Races Dec. 6 at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center to recognize Dettori. The full and final standings can be found at www.ifhaonline.org.
The awarding of the Longines World's Best Jockey is based upon performances in the 100 highest-rated group 1 and grade 1 races as established for the year by the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings Committee. The scoring incorporates races from Dec. 1 of the previous year until Nov. 30 of the current year. Jockeys accrue 12 points for a win, six points for placing second, and four points for placing third.
The Longines World's Best Jockey Award was established six years ago by Swiss watch brand Longines and the IFHA as a way to quantitatively recognize a jockey as the best among his or her global peers.