On May 4, Frankie Dettori will ride Society Man in the Kentucky Derby.
Last year, Dettori left the UK to ride full-time in America. He has stated again that getting a seat in the country's most prestigious race is one of his top priorities.
The Italian, who hasn't participated in the Churchill Downs feature since losing to Fusaichi Pegasus in Saeed bin Suroor's 2000 China Visit, will be happy to be back, despite Danny Gargan's colt being one of the outsiders.
His last sighting was when he placed second in the Aqueduct Grade Two Wood Memorial Stakes.
“I’m excited to have him (Dettori),” Gargan told Daily Racing Form. “He’s riding great. I know it’s a race he wants to be in and a race he wants to win.”
Honour Marie, trained by Whit Beckman and a recent second-place finisher in the Louisiana Derby, will continue to be ridden by Ben Curtis, another former jockey based in the United Kingdom.
“It was definitely on my to-do list, but it’s come around a bit quicker than I thought,” Curtis told www.bloodhorse.com. “It’s a fantastic opportunity and on a horse that I think could show up brilliantly on the day. He was beaten a length last time. A length is easy enough to turn around. It’s a credit to Whit and the owners for sticking by me. I’ve had a lot of experience riding around the world. A lot of people in America probably wouldn’t know me, but I have a lot of credentials to my name. I think myself and the horse get along very well. If it’s working, don’t fix it.”