🔗 Share this article

It has been a thrilling, magnificent and at times rocky path, yet now, it seems the famed jockey's decision is final. The most storied rider of the past 40 years is set to enter retirement after the main card during the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar this Saturday, where he has three chances to secure one last Grade One winner to his almost 300 on his record already. Racing may not see a career like his ever again.

A Household Name

Alongside racing great Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck over the past half-century, “Frankie” registers with pretty much everyone, no surname required. The public knows who he is, even if they have absolutely no interest in what he does. In today's world that has been divided by social media and online networks, Dettori may well be the final equestrian personality who will ever enjoy such instant name-recognition among a wide segment of Britain's people.

His entire career in horse racing, after all, dates back to a time when the show A Question Of Sport often attracted more than 10 million viewers, and a three-year stint as a team captain was sufficient to establish him as the lively, irrepressible face of racing. His last year on the show came in 2004, which was also the year when he won the Flat jockeys’ title for the third and final time. For many in the UK, however, he has likely been the champion for many seasons after that.

A Hard-Earned Fame

It is, in many respects, a hard-won celebrity, a double-edged reward for events on and off the racecourse that have repeatedly pushed Dettori onto the front pages, ever since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied odds of 25,000-1 to ride all seven winners on the card.

Back in June 2000, he was rescued from a fiery crash of a small plane by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, after a crash during takeoff in which the plane’s pilot was killed. When he finally ended his quest for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became headline news.

While everyone admires a winner, they often love a flawed hero and a comeback even more. A half-year suspension after a failed drug test for cocaine could have been the end of many riders in their forties, plenty of time for trainers and owners to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, however, suspension in December 2012 served as a bridge to a revived partnership with John Gosden in Newmarket, and a fresh succession of champions and classic victors, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The celebrated successes and setbacks were a crucial element of Dettori’s story, up to and including the embarrassing confession in March that he was filing for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with HMRC regarding unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and did not succeed, to keep private.

There were so many twists to the tale, in fact, that it's easy to forget that absent Dettori’s immense, once-in-a-generation skill, there would have been no story at all.

Natural Ability

It was evident from his earliest days as a teenage apprentice that there was a natural connection between horse and rider when Dettori was in the saddle.

Horses ran for him, and improved for him. Back in 1990, he became the first teen since Lester Piggott to achieve 100 wins in one season, and also marked his emergence among the elite with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same card that he would charge without a loss only six years later. The famous flying dismount, adopted from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into his routine in 1994, and the buzz from riding a big-race winner has always stayed with him. Nor has the gift of sensing, with something akin to clairvoyance, where to position, when to strike and where the gaps will appear.

The Future Ahead

But what next for the recognizable figure of UK horse racing? It will not be easy to finally let go, whether or not Dettori fulfils his apparent desire to take “a few rides in South America, something that he always wanted to do”. This is not, after all, an ambition that he had mentioned previously.

But the calamitous decision to accept the tax advice that resulted in his dispute with HMRC indicates that he will not draw down the curtain with sufficient funds saved up to relax and take it easy.

New Role and Opportunities

He has already been confirmed in a new role as a “global ambassador” with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian's growing Amo Racing enterprise. He explained to Matt Chapman on At The Races last Friday this was the primary reason for his departure now, as well as being able to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities don’t come along, frequently. I appreciate the structure – this is a young team with huge goals,” explained the jockey.

Joorabchian, himself, was effusive in his compliments for his new ambassador at Del Mar on Thursday. “He’s an icon, a genuine legend of the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When you talk about elite athletes such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Lionel Messi and Pelé and people like that, Frankie represents that to horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you notice a statue, you realize that he’s made a big impact countless lives worldwide.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to amuse audiences, he's here to work and he will collaborate with us very closely. He will participate in all aspects of our operations though he won't serve as a racing manager. He is an international ambassador.”

Reality TV are another option, though previous appearances on Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity … have tended to reveal a more somber aspect to Dettori’s character, beneath the cheerful public image. On both shows, he was an early casualty due to viewer votes.

It may be that Dettori personally does not really know what he'll do and how to spend his time once his race-riding days ends. And for another one more day, he remains a top-level professional jockey, focused on three mounts at one of the globe's prestigious and dazzling events in the calendar.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old filly named Argine will be Dettori’s final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event where he achieved his first Breeders’ Cup success in 1994. Her performance in Japan in Japan suggests that she needs to find to figure, but few riders in history have ever risen to an occasion like Frankie Dettori.

For one final time, cue Frankie?