Dettori hits 200

Lanfranco Dettori put the seal on a memorable week when he reached his second successive double century at York yesterday. The 24-year-old Italian, who on Sunday partnered Lammtarra to victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, joins a list comprising only Fred Archer and Sir Gordon Richards as jockeys to have achieved the feat more than once.

Tommy Loates, at the end of the last century, and current practitioners in Jason Weaver, Pat Eddery and Michael Roberts are the only others to have notched 200 in a season.

Dettori hit the double century on 1 September, also at York, last season, but injuries and suspensions have held him up this time round. He has bounced back in style after being knocked unconscious in a fall which resulted in the death of his mount, Wainwright, at Haydock in August. That left him sidelined for 12 days.

"I'm a month later this time but it's still a great achievement and a great relief," he said after reaching the landmark on Sheer Danzig. "I had the fall but it's the best year of my life. Now I've got the 200 it's a big relief. Let's hope I can do it again next year."

Dettori ruled out any possibility of beating Sir Gordon Richards's best of 269. "I'm delighted to have achieved the 200 at York again but I'm not going to talk about records because I won't do it this year," he said.