Nayef is the one to beat in King George says Dettori
Friday, 25 July 2003 12:58Frankie Dettori reckons whoever beats Nayef will land the King George at Ascot tomorrow.
The Italian jockey fears the Marcus Tregoning-trained 5yo owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum, is the main stumbling block to Godolphin bagging their 100th Group One win. 'Basically who beats Nayef wins. He is the rock of the race. He will be first or second,' he told attheraces today.
"He was second last year and he's going to stay. He loves the track, he's got a good draw. Whatever gets past him, if they can, wins the race. It's as simple as that."
Dettori, though, is happy with the condition of Sulamani, who now shares favouritism at 4-1 with Alamshar in the Tote's books having been backed from 5-1 this morning: "He looks a lot better in his coat and his physique than he did at Saint-Cloud. The race will have brought him on, said Dettori.
"He's an absolute appalling worker. But one thing we know is that when he gets to the races and you press the button, he goes."
Sulamani won the Dubai Sheema Classic at Nad Al Sheba in March but was only fourth in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on his subsequent start.
Filed by James McMahon
