FRANKIE Dettori says his Derby victory on Golden Horn at Epsom last Saturday was the biggest thrill of his career in the saddle.

Dettori won the Epsom classic on Authorized in 2007, but his career has been through plenty of troughs since, and victory on John Gosden's striking colt was his first in a British classic since Blue Bunting's 1,000 Guineas win in 2011.

He was not given much of a chance to celebrate on Saturday, as he went on to ride at Lingfield, where he picked up another winner, but Dettori enjoyed a party in Newmarket later in the evening and reflected further on Sunday morning.

Speaking on Sunday, Dettori said: "I was telling my dad last night that in my 28 years in racing, that was the biggest thrill I ever had. He’s a great horse and it’s the best race in the world to win.

"Basically after that I was more or less dragged off the horse for press interviews, then I had a drink with the Queen and was whisked off to Lingfield for a winner there.

"I came home to a madhouse with friends and family, and we had our celebrations. I’ll be honest, I didn’t have a chance to look at the race so I am looking forward to putting my feet up and letting it all sink in – I still can’t believe it."

Dettori has won just about every big race in the world during his glittering career, but his hunger for the sport remains infectious, even though he admits his retirement might not be too far away.

He added: "I’ve probably got five years left of my career, so the years are running out. The Derby is a one-off, just once a year like the Monaco Grand Prix, Wimbledon or an FA Cup final, so you don’t get three or four goes a year."

Back to the local action, Thirsk raced on Monday afternoon and Ruth Carr heaped praise on stable jockey James Sullivan after rank outsider Favourite Treat caused an upset in the most valuable event of the afternoon.

After winning a Chepstow maiden by nine lengths in September 2013, the five-year-old appeared in the grip of the handicapper for Mark Johnston and was moved on for just 14,000 guineas last summer.

Carr is no stranger to revitalising cast-offs from the bigger yards, however, and although his first three starts of the year had been less than inspiring, the Stillington-based handler might just have picked up another bargain judged on Favourite Treat's authoritative success in the Weatherbys Hamilton Handicap.

Sent off at 33-1, having finished well-beaten at the track less than a fortnight ago, the American-bred gelding disputed the running from the off and looked to have a little in hand at the line as he saw off Kiwi Bay by three-quarters of a length.

Carr feels the work Sullivan has done with her charge at home has been a major factor in his improvement.

She said: "He had some decent form and it has just taken a bit of time to get his confidence back and come down the handicap.

"He's also had problems in the stalls and James has done an awful lot of work with him, so a lot of the credit goes to him. He doesn't get the credit he deserves a lot of the time, but he is very good with the tricky ones.

"He's a nice, big horse, but he had been disappointing, so it's good our patience has been rewarded and hopefully he can go on from here.

"I haven't got anything in mind for him at the moment as it has come as a bit of a surprise, to be honest."

Another Yorkshire-based trainer, Ollie Pears, was delighted to snap a long losing run as Exclusive Contract got the job done in the fillies' handicap.

The four-year-old was a 14-1 shot off the back of finishing third at Redcar and struck gold by three-quarters of a length to give Pears his first winner of the turf season.

He said: "We needed that as we haven't had a winner for four months.

"She ran a good race at Redcar last time when she was a bit short of room, so I'm not surprised to see her go and win, but it is a bit of a relief.

"The plan now is to take her to Ripon for the Ladies' Derby a week on Thursday. Hopefully, we'll start having a few more winners now."

Pontefract raced on Monday evening and Tuscan Gold ran out a good winner of the staying event for Micky Hammond and PJ McDonald.

Afterwards, the winning trainer said: "Tuscan Gold deserved that as he'd been running well. He stays well and had an in-form jockey and is from an in-form stable."

Ann Duffield's string has really hit top form of late and she kept up the winning run at Beverley on Wednesday with a double on the day as Lolamotion and Red Charmer were victorious, both ridden by the red hot PJ McDonald.