Dettori Set to Ride Onesto in Pix d'Ispahan

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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Frankie Dettori

When you ride for as long as Frankie Dettori has, certain things can seem a long time in the past. The names Halling and Best Of The Bests (IRE) feature on the honor roll of the Prix d'Ispahan (G1) with Dettori's name next to them, but those victories were 27 and 21 years ago respectively.

Dettori was booked for Onesto 's intended comeback in the Prix Ganay (G1) a month ago, but the Frankel  colt's preference for a sound surface meant their debut in tandem was delayed until this Longchamp group 1 date on May 29.

"The track was awful on the day of the Prix Ganay and I had no wish to run a good horse on that ground," trainer  Fabrice Chappet said of Onesto. "He was pretty much ready for that race three weeks ago and so he’ll be at least as tuned up now. Ideally, I would prefer two thousand meters (a mile and a quarter) but he has a good turn of foot. He’s the only one who hasn’t run yet and this is not his main objective for the year. We’re delighted to have Frankie riding him."

While Onesto has shown he stays a mile and a half, the finishing kick he has displayed over 10 furlongs suggests he is capable of putting up a bold show over a trip just short of that.

Of greater concern to Chappet will be that last year's Grand Prix de Paris (G1) winner must concede the advantage of a prep run to all six rivals, in a year when first-time-up winners of group 1s have been something of an endangered species.

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Anmaat  produced a fine display over a mile and a quarter of this Grande Piste on desperate ground at last year's Arc meeting to win the Prix Dollar (G2)—most of his previous form was on going much more akin to what he will experience here—and wasn't knocked about by Jim Crowley when runner-up to Adayar  on his seasonal return at Newmarket.

"We had him entered in the Tattersalls Gold Cup but with Luxembourg , Bay Bridge , and Vadeni  running we thought we'd come here for his first try in group 1 company," trainer Owen Burrows said of Anmaat. "He's a course-and-distance winner, so it made sense to perhaps skip those horses for now and go back to France. He took an age to come to himself and, though he was beaten first time this year, it was a solid run. All being well, he'll be competitive."

Buckaroo  returns to this sort of trip for the first time since being chinned by Piz Badile  in the Ballysax Stakes last April. He made a pleasing winning comeback from a 319-day absence at Leopardstown last month when he got the better of Homeless Songs  (IRE) under Oisin Murphy, who keeps the ride.

The chances of a home victory don't rest solely with Onesto. Facteur Cheval has been building steadily to a crack at group 1 company and represents Jerome Reynier, who won this in 2021 with Skalleti , while the impeccably bred Erevann , who was beaten only half a length by Inspiral  in last year's Prix Jacques le Marois (G1), should come on plenty for his comeback third behind Tribalist  and Facteur Cheval at Saint-Cloud.

Erevann is the only horse of the Aga Khan's other than Vadeni to be ridden this season by Christophe Soumillon, who is suspended and cedes the reins to Cristian Demuro.