Star Italian jockey Frankie Dettori has described European middle-distance champion Enable as looking “magnificent” when speaking to Racing TV on Sunday local time.
Enable may be six years old, but the dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner has shown no signs of slowing down despite her age and she’s set to return to Longchamp in October to requite last year’s Arc defeat by Waldgeist and attempt to become the first-ever three-time winner of Europe’s biggest race.
However, plenty has to go right for the mare given the UK and European season has been forced into a delayed start as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic. Jurisdictions across Britain and Europe have been reshuffled to accommodate the key Classics however they have yet to be finalised and made public.
It means that the 10-time Group 1 winner will remain in work while dates for key races are finalised although she is being set up to have a tilt at going back-to-back in the Eclipse as well as contesting the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Speaking on Luck on Sunday on Racing TV, Dettori was bullish about her spring prospects and excited by what she could achieve as a six-year-old.
“The obvious races are Royal Ascot or the Eclipse, the King George, those kind of races.
“The main aim is trying to get Enable to the first Sunday in October in the best shape we can get her to try to do something that no horse has done in Arc history.
“She looks magnificent. Sometimes you are afraid when a horse is getting older that they might lose the racing brain but she seems very alert and she struts around the place like she owns it. She’s very fresh and alert and that’s a good sign.”
British Racing Authorities have announced a proposed schedule to the Turf season which would create a frenetic beginning to the spring and with Dettori one of the regions most sought-after riders, he’ll have plenty of options.
“It’s going to be fast and furious, exciting, very concentrated but if everything goes to plan at least we’ll be able to catch up and by the time we get to July/August,” he said.
“We’ll be right back to normal.”
Under the provisional fixtures, The Guineas will be staged on the opening weekend of Britain’s return to racing however Dettori is adamant he will be race fit to take on the Group 1 rides.
“There’s only so much you can do in the gym but I’ve been riding out,” he said.
“I’m very close to my top fitness. After a few days and after a few rides under my belt it will be business as usual.”
