Arrest is set to be put away until next season after filling the runner-up spot in his bid to provide Frankie Dettori with one final Classic success in the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday.

Having put Derby and Royal Ascot disappointment behind him with victory in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury last month, the Frankel colt was the Italian’s chosen mount as he looked to secure a seventh victory in the Town Moor showpiece.

While the impressive Continuous was too good on the day, Arrest stuck to his task to finish best of the rest and connections are looking forward to seeing what he can achieve as a four-year-old.

Barry Mahon, racing manager for owners Juddmonte, said: “I was delighted and thought he ran a great race. I was more disappointed for Frankie than anything because it would have been lovely for him to have a fairytale ending in the last Classic of the year, but it wasn’t to be.

“The horse ran a brilliant race and Frankie was very complimentary about him afterwards and said what a good horse he thinks he’ll be next year. I think we’ve plenty to look forward to with him.

“I think that seemed to be the consensus with John and Thady (Gosden) and Frankie after the race, that we’d put him away for the year now and he’ll be a nice horse next year.

“He still has a lot of strengthening to do – he’s a tall, lean horse and he’ll strengthen up from three to four. We’ll look forward to the spring next year.

“We know he likes to get his toe in a little bit and once there’s a little bit of juice in the ground he’ll compete in all those big mile-and-a-half races next year.”

Juddmonte’s other top-class performer in the middle-distance division is the Ralph Beckett-trained Westover, who on Friday enjoyed a racecourse gallop at Salisbury in preparation for a tilt at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Sunday week.

The four-year-old has been kept fresh since being narrowly denied by Hukum in a pulsating renewal of the King George at Ascot in July, and Mahon is counting down the days until his next big-race assignment in Paris.

He added: “Westover had a day out in Salisbury and everything went lovely. Ralph was very happy and Rob (Hornby) was very happy with him. He had a good blow afterwards and that will put him spot on.

“I think he’ll head away to the beach this week, which he usually does, and he’ll be ready to head to Longchamp then.

“His form is very good – he’s been competing with the best of them – and just looking at the long-range forecasts the weather looks pretty settled in Paris, so hopefully we might get nice ground, which would be great.”

Frankie Dettori has chosen to ride Arrest rather than Royal Ascot winner Gregory in Saturday’s Betfred St Leger at Doncaster – his final ride in a British Classic.

Dettori had looked sure to partner the John and Thady Gosden-trained Gregory given the way he won the Queen’s Vase in June over the St Leger trip – but Kieran Shoemark will now step into the breach.

Gregory only lost his unbeaten record last time out when dropping down to a mile and a half in the Great Voltigeur at York behind the re-opposing Continuous.

However, recent rain at Doncaster has turned the ground soft meaning Dettori will have a second chance at Classic glory on the Gosdens’ Arrest, who was sent off favourite for the Derby but could finish only tenth on good to firm ground.

He also disappointed on quick ground at Royal Ascot but was impressive back on a soft surface at Newbury against older horses in the Geoffrey Freer last time out.

The Clarehaven stable also has a fine third string in the supplemented Middle Earth (Oisin Murphy), a hugely impressive winner of the Melrose at York’s Ebor meeting.

The King and Queen have a real live chance of tasting success in a British Classic with the William Haggas-trained Desert Hero, himself a Royal Ascot winner, albeit in handicap company in the King George V Stakes.

He subsequently won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, narrowly beating Simon and Ed Crisford’s Chesspiece and the two will lock horns again.

Aidan O’Brien runs four, Great Voltigeur winner Continuous, Alexandroupolis, Denmark and Tower Of London meaning there were no withdrawals at the 48-hour stage.

Frankie Dettori will make a late decision on whether Gregory or Arrest will be his final ride in Saturday’s Betfred St Leger at Doncaster.

Both horses are trained by John and Thady Gosden, with Dettori having partnered ante-post favourite Gregory to win the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot and finish third under a penalty in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York last time.

Dettori, who is planning to retire at the end of the year, was also aboard Arrest when he won the Chester Vase on his seasonal bow, with the Juddmonte-owned colt providing his last Derby ride when coming home a disappointing 10th at Epsom.

The pair then regained the winning thread when stepped up to just shy of the St Leger trip in the Geoffrey Freer at Newbury on his latest run.

Conditions at Doncaster could be key to Dettori’s pick, with Arrest at his best with cut in the ground while Gregory has yet to run on any worse than good going.

The ground on Town Moor is currently described as soft, with Dettori planning to make his call in the morning ahead of final declarations at 10am.

He said: “I’m looking forward to it and it’s a race that has been good to me in the past, hopefully long may it continue.

“I’ll decide who I ride in the morning, let me sleep on it.”

Dettori will be bidding for a seventh St Leger success, having last struck aboard Logician in 2019.

John and Thady Gosden’s Arrest is poised to throw down a Classic challenge in the Betfred St Leger, with wet weather in the Yorkshire area helping to put conditions in his favour.

The Frankel colt entered the Leger picture when winning the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury in August, a length-and-half-success that came on good to soft ground and signalled a return to winning ways for a horse who was sent off favourite for the Derby having impressed when the rain was falling in the Chester Vase.

An Indian summer threatened to put his chance of lining up on Town Moor in jeopardy, but the heavens have since opened and Doncaster was good to soft, soft in places on Tuesday afternoon.

Barry Mahon of owners Juddmonte said: “He’s in good shape, I think John and Thady are both happy with how he’s training.

“We’re just keeping an eye on the weather forecast because it looks to be changing a bit, it looked a bit unlikely that we’d be running last week but I think they’ve had a bit more rain than was anticipated and there looks to be more to come.

“At the minute we’re very much on track for Saturday, we’ll just monitor the ground later in the week.”

While the final British Classic of the season was under consideration early for Arrest, his training team now look particularly well-stocked for the race with Gregory the current favourite and Middle Earth a supplementary entry.

Frankie Dettori, who has ridden Arrest in all of his starts this season, is engaged to partner Gregory, the horse he rode to land the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot.

With the race still taking shape and conditions likely to change between now and Saturday, Arrest’s rider remains unconfirmed.

Mahon added: “I asked John that question this morning and he said he’d go away and think about it over the next 24 hours and come up with a plan.

“I suppose the ground could dictate what Frankie will do, if it came up soft then he might change his mind, I don’t know.

“We’ll have to see in the next 24 hours what John and Thady want to do.”

Arrest is likely to be Juddmonte’s Betfred St Leger hope after his Newbury success left him on track for the Doncaster Classic.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the Frankel colt won won the Chester Vase by a good margin in May when the race was run on soft ground, but could finish only 10th in the Derby at Epsom and fifth in the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot.

Both of those runs were on good to firm ground and on good to soft at Newbury, he looked more at ease when winning the Group Three Geoffrey Freer Stakes by a length and a half in the hands of Frankie Dettori.

The Leger is now on the agenda, but he will require a reasonable amount of give in the ground if he is to run.

“He’s obviously won his trial well and we know he likes a bit of ease in the ground,” said Barry Mahon of Juddmonte.

“I think as long as there’s that ease in the ground, the owners have said they’d like to go the Leger route, so that’s the way we’ll go.”

Juddmonte seem to have another promising horse on their hands in Macduff, a comfortable winner on debut at Newmarket earlier in the month.

The Sea The Stars colt beat a field of well-bred horses and has a notable pedigree himself as he is out of a mare named Present Tense, a half-sister to the great Kingman.

Connections were pleased with his maiden success but there will be little pressure put on him as he is expected to blossom as a three-year-old.

“It was a lovely debut, he’s a nice horse,” Mahon said.

“He’s a big horse, he won’t have a lot of racing this year, Ralph is taking his time and we’ll probably see how he is in the middle of September and pick another race.

“He’s from a good family, his mother is a sister to Kingman. He’s a nice horse that’s just full of potential, next year is going to be his year and I’d imagine that we won’t over-race him this year.”

Arrest – sent off favourite for the Derby – saw his odds cut for the St Leger after getting back to winning ways under a masterful ride from Frankie Dettori in the BetVictor Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury.

Given it was Dettori’s final ride in the Epsom Classic it was perhaps no surprise he was the market leader on that day in June, but he failed to handle the undulating track on ground quicker than ideal.

He had also been well beaten on his most recent outing behind King Of Steel at Royal Ascot, again with conditions against him.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the Frankel colt looked much more at home back on softer ground, on which he had looked so impressive at Chester earlier in the season.

On his only ride of the day, Dettori used all his experience to keep away from the rail going down the back straight and for the first three furlongs he was allowed to do his own thing before Neil Callan moved Jack Darcy over to join him.

As the entered the home straight Dettori wound up the pace and the 5-6 favourite soon had everything else of the bridle and when Jack Darcy wilted, the race was won. Ching Shih made late gains into second, but she was still beaten by a length and a half.

The winner was cut to 6-1 from 12s by Coral for the Betfred-sponsored Leger at Doncaster next month, although the Gosdens and Dettori also have the favourite for the world’s oldest Classic in the shape of Queen’s Vase winner Gregory.

Dettori said: “Everyone expected the ground to be a bog, but it’s good to soft. He was the Derby favourite so he had to do that.

“He’s one card for the St Leger, but let’s see how Gregory gets on next Wednesday (Great Voltigeur Stakes).

“He’s one of a bunch of top horses John is sending to York, it’s a very strong team and I can’t wait.

“Soft ground is not an issue with him, if it’s soft at Doncaster it would be fine.”

Arrest – sent off favourite for the Derby – saw his odds cut for the St Leger after getting back to winning ways under a masterful ride from Frankie Dettori in the BetVictor Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury.

Given it was Dettori’s final ride in the Epsom Classic it was perhaps no surprise he was the market leader on that day in June, but he failed to handle the undulating track on ground quicker than ideal.

He had also been well beaten on his most recent outing behind King Of Steel at Royal Ascot, again with conditions against him.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the Frankel colt looked much more at home back on softer ground, on which he had looked so impressive at Chester earlier in the season.

On his only ride of the day, Dettori used all his experience to keep away from the rail going down the back straight and for the first three furlongs he was allowed to do his own thing before Neil Callan moved Jack Darcy over to join him.

As the entered the home straight Dettori wound up the pace and the 5-6 favourite soon had everything else of the bridle and when Jack Darcy wilted, the race was won. Ching Shih made late gains into second, but she was still beaten by a length and a half.

The winner was cut to 6-1 from 12s by Coral for the Betfred-sponsored Leger at Doncaster next month.

Arrest could set up another Classic tilt when he returns from a short break in the BetVictor Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury on Saturday.

John and Thady Gosden’s charge was sent off the 4-1 favourite to give Frankie Dettori a fairytale swansong in the Derby in June on the back of an impressive display in the Chester Vase the previous month.

However, things did not go to plan for the colt at Epsom, with the son of Frankel struggling to handle the famous undulations and he also underwhelmed when seeking compensation in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.

He now steps up in trip with connections keen to gauge whether he could become a Betfred St Leger contender later in the season, and while his training team will be keeping one eye on conditions to make sure the ground is suitable, heavy rain before racing on Friday will have been welcome.

“It will all depend on what the ground is like. I’m sure John and Thady will have a walk of the track,” explained Barry Mahon, European racing manager for owners Juddmonte.

He went on: “He’s a horse that stays well and we’re going to try to see if he’s a St Leger horse or a mile-and-a-half horse.

“His pedigree wouldn’t scream a mile and six furlongs to you, but just with his running style and John also feels he has a fair chance of getting the trip, so we will give him a chance and see.”

William Haggas’ Klondike was the winner of a soft ground maiden on debut at the course in April before going on to perform with credit in decent company in two starts since.

He came within three lengths of toppling the Gosdens’ Royal Ascot scorer Gregory in the Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood, before being slightly outpaced in a slowly-run edition of the Bahrain Trophy most recently.

“He’s a progressive horse and he was held up in a slowly-run race last time which didn’t suit him,” said the Somerville Lodge handler.

“He will be better on this track and will hopefully run a nice race.

“He won’t mind any rain. He doesn’t have to have soft ground, but he won’t mind it if it comes.

“I think he will be better as he gets older and I don’t want to over do him this year, I think a couple of more races will be fine for him.”

Kemari got the better of a prolonged tussle with Outbox to claim the Fred Archer Stakes at Newmarket and looks the pick of the older horses on show.

That was the first time the five-year-old had found the scoresheet since landing the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot in 2021 and Charlie Appleby is hoping he can build on that welcome return to his best.

“Kemari goes to Newbury fit and well, having had a little break since the Fred Archer,” the Moulton Paddocks handler told www.godolphin.com.

“I think conditions will suit, as he has a bit of form on softer ground, and a repeat of his Newmarket performance should make him a serious contender.”

Disappointing Derby favourite Arrest could bid for redemption in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby at the Curragh next month.

With his partner Frankie Dettori having claimed the Oaks aboard stablemate Soul Sister the previous afternoon, John and Thady Gosden’s colt was the 4-1 market leader to provide the popular Italian with a dream victory in his final ride in the premier Classic.

But pre-race fears regarding the quickening ground and the idiosyncratic nature of the Epsom track proved well founded as after racing keenly on the front end, the Juddmonte-owned Arrest weakened out of contention and passed the post 10th of the 14 runners.

Connections of the impressive Chester Vase winner are keen to let the dust settle before committing to future plans, but Juddmonte’s racing manager Barry Mahon has confirmed another bid for Classic glory on July 2 is a possibility.

“I met John and Thady in France on Sunday and they said he was fine and I was talking to them last night and they said he came out of it in good shape,” he said.

“We’ll see how he does in the next couple of weeks and give the Curragh some consideration. I think the track would suit him, as I think John said pre-Epsom, that the Curragh would suit him better being a more conventional track.

“We saw early on the other day he had a leg going in every direction and he was very unbalanced, so on a track like that he probably wants a bit of ease in the ground.

“I think on a more conventional track he’ll be fine on faster ground, but we won’t make any plans until we see how he is.”

The Ralph Beckett-trained Bluestocking looked an obvious Oaks candidate for Juddmonte after winning on her Salisbury debut and being narrowly beaten on her reappearance in Listed company at Newbury.

But the team ultimately decided against a trip to Epsom and she will now either head for Royal Ascot or across the Channel for the French Oaks.

Mahon added: “She worked well on Tuesday morning and has the option of the Ribblesdale and she also has the option of the Prix de Diane as well.

“She’s a filly who probably won’t want rattling fast ground, so that will probably sway us as to where we end up going. If the forecast was mostly dry and Ascot was looking very quick, then we could consider going to France as I know there is rain forecast for there early next week.”

On the decision to sidestep Epsom, Mahon added: “It was purely down to a lack of experience. You need a bit of experience to handle a track like that.

“It would have been her third run and if you’re very street-wise and it’s your third run it’s fine, but we saw at Newbury she was quite green and looked inexperienced and cold.

“To be green on a conventional track like that I think didn’t bode well for Epsom, so we all felt we’d give her a bit more time and run her on a more conventional track.”

Frankie Dettori is as relaxed as ever and feels he has “nothing to prove” ahead of his last ever Betfred Derby ride aboard Arrest.

The veteran jockey – who will bring the curtain down on his glittering career at the end of 2023 – will join forces with John and Thady Gosden for the blue riband, an event he has won twice before aboard Authorized and Golden Horn, in 2007 and 2015 respectively.

Arrest is a son of Frankel who took an established Derby trial when landing the Chester Vase by six and a half lengths in May, though the soft going meant that race was run in significantly different conditions to those expected at the weekend.

Nevertheless, the Juddmonte-owned colt has undertaken a pleasing gallop since at Epsom, and his status as a Derby hopeful is a boon for Dettori as he did not expect to pick up a competitive ride in his final year in the saddle.

He said: “It’s my last year, I thought I’d find it hard to find a Derby ride, never mind a Derby ride with a chance. It’s actually surprising to me that I’m in this position and I have a shot at it, a proper shot at it. I’m very excited.

“When I said in December I was going to retire, I never thought I’d get the ride on a horse with a great chance to win the Derby, so it is a great position to be in.

“Arrest has filled out to be a good-looking horse, very strong, he’s improved throughout the spring and won his trial very well, even if it was a non-event on that ground. We know the distance is no problem, he’s full of himself and it looks a wide-open Derby. I would say I’ve got as good a chance as anyone.

“I wouldn’t like to swap him with anything else because I feel like I’m going in with as good a chance as anyone. He’s got a bit of a round action, a high knee action, we took him to Epsom and gave him a bit of a gallop round and he seems fine.”

With Auguste Rodin having a question mark after his eclipse in the Guineas, there is no runaway favourite for the race this year. But Dettori has an eye on Sir Michael Stoute’s Passenger, a maiden winner who suffered a luckless passage through the Dante before dead-heating for third.

“He’s the one that we still don’t know how good he is, he never got a fair crack at the Dante and he’s only run twice, so he could be anything,” he said.

Arrest is drawn in stall 13 of 14 runners and while the perceived wisdom is that a higher draw is generally beneficial at Epsom, Dettori does not think the stall position is as significant a factor as others believe.

He said: “There has been a lot of emphasis on it, but they’ve been winning from everywhere.

“To win the Derby you need a good horse, the draw makes no difference. Simple as that!”

Though he expects the emotion of hanging up his boots to catch up with him as his final rides loom, for now Dettori is enjoying his farewell tour and at ease going into one of the biggest weekends of racing anywhere in the world.

He said: “Believe it or not, I’m so chilled. Maybe it’s because I’ve got nothing to prove and if I do make a balls up of it, it doesn’t matter. I’m feeling very chilled, I’m embracing it, I’m super relaxed.

“I’m really enjoying it. It will be a different kettle of fish when I get to October and the last few days will be difficult, but at the moment I feel good.”

Frankie Dettori is optimistic Arrest can provide him a dream success in his final Betfred Derby on Saturday week after putting the colt through his paces at Epsom on Monday morning.

The son of Frankel emerged as a major contender for the premier Classic when demolishing his rivals in the Chester Vase on very soft ground earlier this month, after which joint-trainer John Gosden was hesitant to fully commit his sizeable three-year-old to a run at Epsom on June 3.

But after successfully traversing Tattenham Corner and seemingly handling the cambered track in a workout just short of a mile at the Derby Festival Gallops Morning, he looks set to take his chance.

Dettori, who in December announced 2023 will be final year in the saddle, will be bidding for a third Derby success following the victories of Authorized in 2007 and Golden Horn, and is delighted to be partnering a horse with leading claims on what will be his 28th and final ride in the great race.

“It’s all about getting used to the course and the most crucial part is Tattenham Corner, where horses can really win or lose a race,” said the 52-year-old Italian.

“He went round there fine. In the straight, it took him a furlong to get organised but he’s a big horse. He then went very straight and I was very happy with him.

“I have been fortunate enough to win the Derby twice and it is still the most famous race in the world for us. When I started my career as a jockey, first of all you want to get a ride in it and then try to win it. I’ve had over 20 rides in it and this is my last go. At least I am going into my last Derby with a great chance.

“It looks a wide-open Derby and I haven’t seen any horse really dominating any of the trials – they all won, but nobody won by a really wide margin so it looks a competitive and open Derby.”

With Arrest proving he handles soft ground so well, Dettori is hoping conditions are again on the easy side next week.

He added: “He is growing up and getting stronger. The ground is an issue, but Andrew (Cooper, clerk of the course at Epsom) always does a great job and I haven’t ridden in a very fast Derby for a long time – it has always been good or good to soft and, fingers crossed, the rain will continue.

“Every week horses improve and we still have two weeks to go. I would expect this horse after the gallop today to go on a bit and it’s very hard to assess one year to the next. But I am very pleased with him – he looks great and has done well in the gallop this morning.

“We always thought a bit of him last year, but he was all frame and no muscle. He did well over the winter and Chester was great. In the other trials Passenger (third in the Dante Stakes) impressed me most – he’s not in the Derby at the moment, but I expect he will be (supplemented).”

Gosden, who trains Arrest in partnership with his son Thady, was similarly pleased with how Arrest took to the idiosyncratic Epsom track.

He said: “This horse can change gears, absolutely. He’s a big boy and he proved he stayed the other day (in the Chester Vase) when he handled the conditions. He doesn’t need it to be like that.

“He’s a big boy and they always say that when they’re leggy like that the track is trickier for them here, but Frankie said he got himself organised and came nicely on the bit down Tattenham Corner onto the straight – so he was pleased enough with him.

“I think it’s all about getting a feel for the track and not actually about finding out how fast they can go around the track today. I tend to save that for the following weekend. We clearly were pulling up at the half-furlong marker, we weren’t going to the finish line and then rolling off down the hill, so it was very much an exercise gallop and not a test of ability.

“He was touched off in the Group One over a mile and a quarter at Saint-Cloud last year, so he was in the Derby then and he was the only one I had that was likely to come to the Derby and put up a bold show. You’re always lucky if you’ve got more than one to look at.

“It’s about 4-1 or 5-1 the field and to that extent he belongs right up there with them.”

Dettori is also set to team up with the Gosdens in the Betfred Oaks, with Soul Sister staking her claim for the fillies’ Classic with an impressive victory in the Musidora Stakes at York last week.

“John kept believing in her and when she ran at Newbury (finished last in the Fred Darling Stakes) his horses were not running that well,” said the jockey.

“At York she took me by surprise as she quickened twice, travelled and clocked a very good time. I was impressed.

“She has to go an extra two furlongs in the Oaks, but the signs are good. Obviously the (Aidan) O’Brien filly (Savethelastdance) who won by 22 lengths at Chester and is going to be hard to beat, but we’ll give it a go.”