FRANKIE DETTORI'S leap for joy, which could have cost him victory in the Pertemps 2,000 Guineas, may be one of his last because the Jockey Club is to consider outlawing his flying dismount.
The champion jockey jumped straight into trouble for dismounting before he reached the winners enclosure following Mark Of Esteem's short head victory in the 2,000 Guineas.
He was fined £500, prompting Mark Tompkins, trainer of the runner-up Even Top, to consider lodging an objection to the result and challenge the Jockey Club to disqualify the winner.
However, Tompkins later announced that he would not be objecting to the result. "I'm not taking it any further," he said.
Dettori's trade mark, show of elation is becoming increasingly popular after big races. He adopted the spectacular jump, modelled on US jockey Angel Cordero, after his 1994 Breeders Cup victory on Barathea.
But, although conscious that they may be branded "killjoys", the Jockey Club may now intervene to halt the trend on safety grounds.
When the result of the photofinish was announced Dettori celebrated by leaping off Mark Of Esteem, embraced Godolphin travelling head lad John Davies on the racecourse before remounting and performing another dismount in the winners enclosure.
He was punished under the rule which forbids riders from dismounting before the winners circle except in justifiable circumstances.
The stewards did not find him in breach of the rule which states. "If a rider touches. except accidentally. any person or thing other than his own equipment before weighing in, his horse may on an objection be disqualified."
This rule exists primarily to guard against deception and ensure weights are not tampered with.
"I didn't think about the rule. I was just so overwhelmed when I found out I'd won." explained Dettori.
But Tompkins reacted: "Somebody will get killed one of these days with Frankie jumping off and the horse will kick or something. It needs stamping on and the stewards should do that straight away.
Mark Of Esteem maintained the Godolphin stranglehold on England's premier races. The colt returned from his winter break in the Middle East to land the first classic of the Flat season and the fourth in succession for the team's trainer Saeed in Suroor.
Wins in the Derby, Oaks and St Leger sealed an unbelievable 1995 campaign for the Dubai outfit and the short head triumph by Mark of Esteem was equally memorable.
Racing up the stands rails, Frankie Dettori swept the 8 to chance into the lead two furlongs out and then fought out a desperate finish with 40 to 1 outsider Even Top and Bijou D'lode, a head back in third.
"If everything is all right I think he will go for the Derby. At the moment we don't plan to give him a race before Epsom." said a jubilant Sheikh Mohammed.
