FRANKIE Dettori and trainers John and Thady Gosden have confirmed they are taking a break from each other following a tense 10 days which led to speculation that the famous partnership between the Clarehaven yard and its famous jockey was over.

Both parties met in Newmarket on Friday, after which a brief statement was issued by John Gosden. It read: "Following speculation in the press, Frankie and I have amicably decided to take a sabbatical from the trainer-jockey relationship but we remain the closest of friends and colleagues.

"Frankie has been – and always will be – one of the family here so I wanted to meet face to face after he returned from his post-Ascot holiday. I do not intend to appoint a stable jockey at Clarehaven."

Having enjoyed huge success together over the years, there were clear signs of strain at Royal Ascot last week, with Gosden senior publicly criticising Dettori following his ride on Stradivarius, who finished third in his bid for a fourth victory in the Gold Cup on Thursday.

The narrow defeat of Saga, owned by Queen Elizabeth, in the following Britannia Stakes further exacerbated the situation before the brilliant success of Inspiral in Friday’s Coronation Stakes gave the combination a welcome boost, only for Gosden to double down on his criticism of Dettori afterwards.

Speculation

Speculation of just how serious the rift between the pair rose again when it became clear that the Italian rider, who had taken a break in Sardinia for most of this week, was not booked on any of the three Gosden-trained runners at Newmarket today.

Yesterday morning, Dettori’s business manager Peter Burrell told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast that “the writing is firmly on the wall” and “if I were having a bet, I’d say it’s over”. However, when speaking to the Racing Post later in the day, Burrell, revealed that he hadn’t heard of Dettori’s impending meeting with Gosden as he was in Morocco and without internet access, before suggesting that was “a very big and positive step.”

However

Dettori has one ride at Newmarket today, Lezoo in a listed raced for two-year-old fillies (2.05), and he will travel to Istanbul for one ride tomorrow.