Dettori adds Jersey Derby to collection of victory leaps

The flying
dismount finally made its debut at Monmouth Park.

Twirling Point, ridden by legendary jockey Frankie Dettori, first had to collar
Fidelightcayut in deep stretch and then had to hold off the late charge of the
Chad Brown-trained Move to Gold for a nose victory in Saturday’s $100,000
Jersey Derby.

Click here for Monmouth Park entries and results.

Trained by
Jonathan Thomas, Twirling Point became a first-time stakes winner after two
third-place finishes in his previous tries in stakes company.

The winning
time for the mile over a turf course listed as firm was 1:34.76.

Dettori,
known for his signature flying dismount in the winner’s circle following
victories, made his first appearance at Monmouth Park since the 2007 Breeders’
Cup.

Thomas also
won the 2022 Jersey Derby with Fuerteventura.

“He always
hinted at being a stakes winner,” Thomas said of Twirling Point. “Mind you, the
3-year-old turf division for males and females is really deep, so thankfully
there are a myriad of options, and he’s kept some nice company. He’s trained
like a nice horse that should be a stakes winner. It’s nice that it is done.”

Twirling
Point, idle since March 23, sat a loose third behind dueling early leaders
Fidelightcayut and Evening News with the duo taking the eight-horse field of
3-year-olds through early fractions of 23.46, 46.87 and 1:10.91 through
three-quarters of a mile.

Fidelightcayut
then took over and looked to be clear when Twirling Point made his move
wheeling out of the turn. Move to Gold followed that move.

Fidelightcayut
dug in gamely with Twirling Point sticking a nose in front at the wire as Move
to Gold surged on the outside. Move to Gold finished second, a nose ahead of
Fidelightcayut.

“He is very
versatile,” said Dettori, who won two stakes races at Penn National on Friday
and is listed to ride at Churchill Downs on Sunday. “I pushed on him and he
jumped good (at the start) for once. Thank goodness for that. He’s just a big
baby. When he gets there, he kind of waits for the others. When Vincent
(Cheminaud aboard runner-up Move to Gold) came next to me, he kind of got me
started again.”

Twirling
Point paid $5.20 win, improving his record to 7: 3-1-2 for Augustin Stable. He
was coming off a late-closing third in the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway Park
after breaking last when he jumped at the start.

The son of
Twirling Candy posted his second grass win in four tries and Thomas has no
doubt that Dettori was the key factor in that.

“Any time
you have someone of Dettori’s ilk, and you can count on one hand how many of
his caliber riders there are, it’s a privilege to leg someone up like that,” Thomas
said. “He got first jump, and there was no doubt he was a difference maker.”