Dettori strikes on Kutub Godolphin`s odds-on favourite Kutub won the Group One Gran Premio del Jockey Club impressively at San Siro in Italy today. The visored four-year-old, trained by Saeed Bin Suroor, was the only British-trained runner in the contest over a mile and a half. Kutub, ridden by Frankie Dettori, was bidding for a hat-trick after winning two similar races in Germany and was quoted as trading at approximate odds of 1-10 and 1-5 before the off. Dettori made virtually all the running on the hot favourite, taking up the running on testing ground shortly after the runners broke from the stalls. Altieri went second but was passed by German raider Montalban as Kutub continued to cut out the pace. Dettori kicked four lengths clear inthe seven-runner event as Italian-trained Altieri regained second place ahead of Montalban`s stable companion Monos. Kutub appeared to flounder momentarily in the ground but still had enough in hand to hold on to the lead as the post loomed. The Godolphin battler put further daylight between himself and his rivals to complete the hat-trick easily. Monos came through for second with Altieri finishing third. Dettori earlier had to settle for fourth place after Mamool, trained by David Loder and owned by Sheikh Mohammed, finished only fourth behind the Aidan O`Brien-trained runner Sholokhov, under Michael Kinane, in the Gran Criterium.
