Dettori back at scene of his Ascot seven

IN RACING'S version of The Magnificent Seven, Frankie Dettori was Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson et al rolled into one. Eli Wallach's role, on the other hand, was played by Gary Wiltshire.

A decade ago today, the latter was a rails bookmaker at Ascot when Dettori went through the card to notch a stunning 25,091 accumulator, and while Wiltshire didn't actually pay for the Italian's brilliance with his life, that was about all he escaped with.

Having laid Fujiyama Crest, the last of the winning septet, to lose around £800,000, Wiltshire was later to admit that when Dettori and his mount turned into the straight in front, it began to dawn on him that the end of his world was nigh. When the partnership still occupied that position at the post, the realisation that financial disaster beckoned sank in.

In order to settle with winning punters, the family home had to be sold, the cars, and anything else that wasn't nailed down went as well but, eventually, everyone who was owed money got paid.

Ten years on, and with that sort of painful history behind him, you might think Wiltshire would be hoping Dettori draws a blank in Berkshire this afternoon when he bids for a Famous Five rather than another Magnificent Seven, but far from it.

"Frankie's a phenomenon and I love him. The British public also love a loser and I'm a loser who's come back," said Wiltshire in a recent interview. "After Dettori Day, from being a small unknown bookmaker, everyone suddenly knew me and my media career really took off."

To make matters worse, he was actually on his way to Worcester races on that fateful day but decided to head to the Royal venue instead when he got caught up in a traffic jam.

Just to prove there's no hard feelings though, Wiltshire even went to the memorabilia auction Ascot held prior to their multi-million pound redevelopment and came out top in the bidding for the sign that said "7th Race". Mind you, he only paid ninety quid for it so in comparison to £800,000 it was as cheap as chips.

Today, even Dettori, who later bought Fujiyama Crest and has the now 14-year-old as one of the family pets, admits there's little chance of him putting any bookmaker through the same sort of anguish suffered by Wiltshire but then, he probably thought that prior to racing in 1996 as well.

If the gods decreed he could win on only one of his handful of chances, he would undoubtedly opt for Librettist in the race of the afternoon, the QEII Stakes. The colt has come back from a long spell out through injury looking as good as ever, and the softening conditions will have increased confidence in the Godolphin camp that they can land this prestigious event for the fourth time since Frankie's big day.

Another who won't have minded watching the rain pelt down however is Court Masterpiece and, after spending much of his career hovering just under racing's top tier, this could be the day Ed Dunlop's runner graduates into the big time.

The older the selection gets, the better he gets and after meeting all sorts of trouble and looking an unlucky loser behind Ad Valorem at Royal Ascot, he showed what he was capable of when landing Goodwood's Sussex Stakes.

Court Masterpiece will have to raise his game a shade higher to score this afternoon but don't bet against him doing it.

On a day like this however, it's hard to get away from Mr Dettori and, while he won't actually be riding the nap Mecca's Mate, it's to be hoped the improved performance the best bet put up under the former champion in last week's Ayr Gold Cup was a sign David Barker's mare is poised to strike at Haydock.

She was one of only three who elected to race up the far side at the Craigie track and while she couldn't quite keep tabs on Fonthill Road, she wasn't disgraced in finishing just a couple of lengths behind the winner.

At Musselburgh tomorrow, the best bet on the card is How's She Cuttin' who has gradually improved in each of her three outings. David Barron's filly won the latest of those at Ripon and, while the form of that event hasn't worked out so well, she has plenty of scope for improvement.