🔗 Share this article

The journey has been an exhilarating, magnificent and sometimes bumpy ride, but this time, it appears Frankie Dettori's mind is made up. The most celebrated jockey of the past 40 years will effectively enter retirement after the main card during the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar this Saturday, when he will have three chances to add a farewell top-tier victory to nearly 300 already in his record. Racing may not see a career quite like it again.

A Household Name

Together with Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck in the last half-century, Frankie Dettori is recognized by almost everybody, no surname required. People know his identity, even if they possess absolutely no interest in what he does. In a world that has been divided by social media and online networks, Dettori could be the final equestrian personality who will ever experience such immediate name-recognition among a wide segment of the British population.

His entire career in the sport, after all, goes back to a time when the show A Question Of Sport often attracted over 10 million audience members, and a three-year stint as a team captain was more than enough to cement him as the lively, irrepressible face of racing. His final year on the show came in 2004, which was also the time when he won the Flat jockeys’ title for a third and final time. For many in the UK, though, he has probably been the top jockey for many seasons after that.

A Hard-Earned Fame

This is, in many ways, a hard-won celebrity, a double-edged reward for incidents on and off the racecourse that have repeatedly pushed Dettori into the headlines, ever since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he defied massive 25,000-1 odds to win all seven races that day.

In June 2000, he was pulled from the burning wreckage of a small plane by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, following an accident during takeoff where the pilot was killed. When at last concluded his pursuit for a Derby victory in 2007, that also became headline news.

And if everyone loves a winner, they often love a flawed hero and a return 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 was a bridge to a renewed association with trainer John Gosden at Newmarket, and a new series of champions and Classic winners, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The public highs and setbacks were a crucial element of Dettori’s story, right up until the humiliating admission this past March that he filed for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with tax authorities regarding unpaid taxes, a situation that he attempted, and failed, to keep private.

There have been numerous turns in his story, indeed, that it can be easy to forget that without Dettori’s immense, generational talent, there would be no story at all.

Early Talent and Instincts

It was clear from the start as a teenage apprentice that there was a natural connection with the horses when Dettori was in the saddle.

Steeds performed for him, and improved for him. Back in 1990, he was the first teenager since Piggott to achieve 100 wins in one season, and also announced his arrival among the elite with two Group One wins at Ascot, on the same day that he would charge without a loss only six years later. The famous flying dismount, adopted from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was added to Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the buzz from riding a big-race winner has never left him. Neither has the talent of sensing, with almost clairvoyance, where to position, when to strike and where openings will emerge.

The Future Ahead

But what now for the recognizable figure of UK horse racing? It will not be easy to finally let go, regardless if Dettori fulfils his expressed wish to take “a few rides in South America, which is something I’ve always wanted to experience”. This is not, after all, an ambition that he had mentioned previously.

But the calamitous decision to follow tax guidance that led to his tax issues indicates that he will not draw down the curtain with sufficient funds in the bank to relax and take things easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has already been appointed to a new position 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 on Friday this was the primary reason for his exit now, as well as being able to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities don’t come along, very often. I appreciate the structure – this is a young team with huge goals,” said the rider.

Joorabchian, himself, was effusive in his compliments for his new recruit on Thursday at Del Mar. “He’s an icon, he is a true legend in the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When you talk about great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Currys, Messis and Pelés and people like that, Frankie represents that for horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you know that he has influenced countless lives worldwide.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to entertain people, he's here to work and he will collaborate with us closely. He will be involved in every area of our business [but] he won’t be a racing manager. He is an international ambassador.”

Television reality shows is another possibility, though previous appearances on Celebrity Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity have tended to reveal a more somber aspect to Dettori’s character, beneath the cheerful public persona. In both programs, he was an early exit of the public vote.

It may be that Dettori himself is unsure what he will do and how he will fill his time once his riding career are over. And for at least one more day, he remains a top-level professional jockey, concentrating on three rides at one of the globe's prestigious and dazzling events on the schedule.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old mare named Argine will be Dettori’s last top-level ride in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the same race where he achieved his first Breeders’ Cup success in 1994. Her performance in Japan in Japan suggests that she needs to improve to compete, but few riders in history have ever risen to an occasion like Frankie Dettori.

One last time, is it time for Frankie?