Horse Racing: Dettori Uninjured in Fall

After completing a Classic double on his last two visits to France, Frankie Dettori came down to earth with a bump at Longchamp yesterday when he was lucky to escape serious injury in a fall from Formal Decree in the Group 3 La Coupe.

Formal Decree was travelling smoothly on the rails when he lost his footing just before the turn for home, throwing Dettori to the ground. "I'm OK. I just got kicked on my right bum cheek," said the jockey as he walked gingerly away from the incident.

Formal Decree also brought down two of his rivals, but all the horses and riders concerned appeared to avoid serious injury. The prize went to Formal Decree's Godolphin stablemate, Stage Gift, who made all the running under Kerrin McEvoy.

Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor reported both Dettori and Formal Decree to have returned unscathed. "Frankie came back fine and there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with the horse," he said. "Stage Gift won very well. It was good to see him win like that."

Dettori will be fit for Royal Ascot next week, but Formal Decree is unlikely to reappear in Wednesday's Prince of Wales's Stakes. George Washington, who is expected to run in the Queen Anne Stakes on Tuesday has, surprisingly, been left in the Prince Of Wales's Stakes too.

Ballydoyle is expected to be represented by Dylan Thomas, who was cut to 9-4 from 5-2 by Ladbrokes. Red Rocks is 7-2, with Manduro and Notnowcato, conqueror of Dylan Thomas last time, both on 4-1.

Supporters of Red Rocks will have been relieved to see his trainer, Brian Meehan, end a lengthy losing run yesterday. The 66-1 victory of Shirley A Star at Newbury was Meehan's first success from over 60 runners in the past 24 days. He went on to complete a double with Susanna's Prospect at Yarmouth.

Jim Bolger's Creachadoir, runner-up in both the French and Irish 2,000 Guineas, could bypass the St James's Palace Stakes on Tuesday to run in the Jersey Stakes. He is one of 30 declared for Wednesday's opening race at Royal Ascot.

Ron Cox's tip of the day


Sundae 2.40 Sandown

A full brother to the stable's useful sprinter Paradise Isle, Sundae has the makings of a decent performer himself. Trained by the in-form Chris Wall, Sundae showed a nice turn of foot to get off the mark at Nottingham in a race which is working out well. He deserved extra credit for defying a low draw that day and a mark of 70 could be lenient. This stiff five furlongs should be ideal.