Frankie Dettori's famous Magnificent Seven at Ascot in 1996 has been voted the greatest achievement in Flat racing in the last 100 years. In a poll commissioned by bookmaker Coral to celebrate their centenary, the unforgettable afternoon when the jockey achieved what was until then regarded as virtually impossible, by winning all seven races on the showpiece Queen Elizabeth II Stakes card, came out second only to Red Rum’s three Grand National victories in the vote of 2,000 racing fans.
The result is a fitting one, as next Monday, September 28th, marks the 30th anniversary of the Magnificent Seven. The cumulative starting price odds for Dettori's historic seven-timer were a staggering 25,051/1, and the incredible feat hit British bookmakers to the tune of an estimated £40 million.
Coral's David Stevens, recalling the big day, said:
Frankie had been champion jockey a couple of times by this stage, so he had an established following among punters, and Saturdays in betting shops were much more racing focused then, with football betting yet to really take off as it has now, but at the start of the day we had no concerns about him going through the card, it really was unthinkable, no jockey had ridden all seven winners at one meeting, let alone on a high quality, competitive card like this Ascot one, so it was a case of taking the Frankie bets as usual, not expecting we’d be paying them back many, many times over the following week.
"Several hours later however, the atmosphere at HQ was shell-shocked, that's probably the best way to describe the mood. In those days it wasn’t until Monday, and even Tuesday, that the full extent of the financial hit was known, but by midweek, estimates that the industry had been hit to the tune of £40 million – equivalent to more than £80 million today - would have been about right.
"We didn’t see it straight away as we counted the cost, but of course with the benefit of time, what Frankie achieved that day was the best advertisement for racing and betting there could have been. Thousands of small staking racing fans won money that day, in several cases life changing amounts, and the sport was front page news for several weeks. Three decades on from that incredible day, it's entirely fitting that Frankie's Magnificent Seven has been voted the greatest Flat racing achievement of the last 100 years, with only Red Rum’s Grand National heroics beating it overall.
In third place on the poll was Sir AP McCoy winning the British Jump Racing Champion Jockey title for 20 consecutive seasons, while Lester Piggott winning the Epsom Derby a record nine times and Frankel retiring with a perfect 14-0 record completed the top 5.
