Frankie Dettori celebrates Nunthorpe victory on Lady Aurelia only to find out he’s been beaten on the line by Luke Morris and Marsha
MARSHA landed a dramatic last-gasp Nunthorpe victory by a whisker to leave beaten Frankie Dettori speechless.
The in-form Italian punched the air in delight as US speedster Lady Aurelia crossed the line. But there was to be no trademark flying dismount.
Wesley Ward’s King’s Stand heroine had been nosed out by fast-finishing 8-1 shot Marsha.
A shocked Dettori said: “I’m speechless. I thought I’d won a neck.”
The York finishing line has played some tricks over the years and this was another.
Ward said: “We’ve no excuses – Lady Aurelia’s run a fantastic race. She beat us by the hair on my chinny, chin, chin.”
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For punters who had piled into 10-11 favourite Lady Aurelia it was jockey Luke Morris who played the role of the big, bad wolf.
He huffed and he puffed to lift Marsha – trained by his boss Sir Mark Prescott - into the lead right on the line. It was the 28-year-old jockey’s first British Group 1 victory.
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York’s flying five-furlong contest was billed as shoot-out between Lady Aurelia and rapidly-improving Battaash. It never materialised.
Battaash didn’t want to enter the stalls and soon backed out of it when the race hotted up. It flung the door wide open for Lady Aurelia.
Everything looked to be going to plan until the photo-finish flashed up around the course to the delight of the 10,000 members of the Elite Racing Club – owners of Marsha.
Prescott wasn’t even at the track. He was in Ireland looking for the next generation of stars.
Morris grinned: “When Frankie put his hand up I was instantly gutted. It went from despair to joy in 30 seconds.
“It was a fantastic feeling when I knew I’d won. These are the days you get up every day for.”