Frankie Dettori landed his second riders' title in a week with outright victory at the Hong Kong International Jockeys Championship at Happy Valley on Wednesday. Dettori, who took a similar event in Mauritius last weekend, began the tournament, which he also won two years ago, in fine style by booting home the strong favourite Noble Boy in the opening leg.
That gained him 12 valuable points towards the title and in the process delight his faithful fans in the huge crowd. However, that was the limit of his success and he needed the two points gained for finishing fifth in each of the final two legs. The second leg of the competition went to Dettori's French rival Oliver Peslier riding Successful Spirit while Australian Damien Oliver took the closing leg on board Lomond's Fay. That victory, however, was not enough to deny Dettori the title. The Italian took the honour with 16 points with Oliver a point behind and Peslier on 12.
The main reason for Dettori's appearance in Hong Kong is to partner Godolphin's runners in the weekend's International raceday at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Filed by Shane Murray
