Dettori and Gosden to "take a sabbatical from the trainer-jockey relationship"

Yesterday, we brought you the story that Frankie Dettori had been jocked off John Gosden's weekend rides. Dettori returned from a break in Sardinia on Thursday, only to find that the Gosden's had chosen James Doyle and Rab Havlin to ride their two entrants at Newmarket.

Crunch talks took place between two of horse racing's pre-eminent figures, and it was mutually decided that Dettori and Gosden's racing relationship would come to an end.

"Me and John had a meeting yesterday and we decided to give each other a break, a sabbatical," Dettori told the press on Saturday morning. 

"That’s it really. We just had a chat yesterday, we’re still good friends and I’ll be forever grateful for what John did for me in the past. At the moment we’ve decided it’s better for the pair of us to have a break."

"The meeting we had between me and John is between me and him, so I’m not going to go into details – it’s not fair on the pair of us."

Many will see this split as a "changing of the guard" moment in British racing. Hollie Doyle, who rode Trueshan to a magnificent victory in the Northumberland Plate on Saturday, is Betfair's 4/11 favourite to take over as the Gosden's leading rider.

Dettori, however, was keen to emphasise that this incident wouldn't mark the end of his glittering career. The 51-year-old rode Lezoo to victory in the Empress Fillies' Stakes at Newmarket this afternoon and plans to keep riding at the highest level for as long as he can.

"I’m definitely going to do this year and next year. I’m riding in Istanbul on Sunday and I’ll be at the German Derby next week."

"I’ve got a couple of weekends in Belmont and Saratoga, so I’m quite busy the next month. So if you don’t see me ride domestically it’s not because I gave up, it’s because I’m riding abroad. But I’m intending to ride all of this year and definitely next year."