🔗 Share this article

It has been a thrilling, glorious and at times bumpy ride, yet now, it appears Frankie Dettori's decision is final. The most storied jockey over the last 40 years will effectively enter retirement after the main card during the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar on Saturday, where he has three opportunities to add a farewell Grade One winner to his almost 300 on his record already. Racing may not witness a career like his ever again.

A Household Name

Together with racing great Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck in the last 50 years, “Frankie” is recognized by almost everybody, no surname required. People know who he is, even if they possess absolutely no interest in what he does. In a world which has become divided by digital platforms 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 the sport, after all, dates back to a time when the show A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in over 10 million audience members, and his three-year role as a team leader was sufficient to establish him as the lively, irrepressible face of racing. His final year on the show was 2004, that was also the year when he secured the Flat jockeys’ title for the third and last occasion. For many in the UK, though, he has probably been the top jockey in most years since.

A Hard-Earned Fame

It is, in many respects, a hard-earned fame, a mixed blessing for incidents both on and off the track which have often propelled Dettori onto the front pages, since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame odds of 25,000-1 to win all seven races on the card.

Back in June 2000, he was pulled from the burning wreckage of a light aircraft by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, following an accident during takeoff where the pilot was killed. When at last concluded his pursuit for a Derby winner in 2007, that too was front-page news.

While everyone admires a winner, they often love a flawed hero and a return even more. A six-month ban following a positive drug test for cocaine could have been the end of most jockeys in their forties, more than enough time for trainers and owners to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, however, suspension in December 2012 served as a bridge to a revived partnership with John Gosden at Newmarket, and a new series of winners and classic victors, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The public highs and lows were an essential part of his narrative, up to and including the humiliating admission this past March that he was filing for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with HMRC regarding unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and failed, to keep private.

There were so many twists to the tale, in fact, that it can be easy to forget that absent his tremendous, once-in-a-generation skill, there would have been no story at all.

Early Talent and Instincts

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

Steeds performed for him, and got better under him. Back in 1990, he became the first teen since Lester Piggott to reach 100 winners 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 just six years later. His iconic flying dismount, copied from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was added to Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the buzz from winning major races has always stayed with him. Neither has the talent of knowing, with almost clairvoyance, where to position, when to make a move and where the gaps will emerge.

The Future Ahead

But what now for the recognizable figure of British racing? It will not be easy to step away completely, regardless if Dettori pursues his apparent desire to accept some mounts in South America, something that I’ve always wanted to experience”. It is not, in fact, a goal that he has mentioned until now.

However, the disastrous choice to accept the tax advice that resulted in his tax issues means that he will not end his career with sufficient funds saved up to relax and take it easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has been confirmed in a new role as an international ambassador with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian’s burgeoning Amo Racing enterprise. Dettori told Matt Chapman on At The Races on 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, very often. I appreciate the structure – this is a young team with huge goals,” said the rider.

Joorabchian personally, was effusive in his compliments for his new ambassador on Thursday at Del Mar. “He is an icon, a genuine legend of the sport,” he stated. “When you talk about elite athletes like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Messis and Pelé and people like that, Frankie is that for horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you realize that he has influenced countless lives worldwide.

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

Television reality shows is another possibility, although earlier outings 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 image. In both programs, he was an early exit of the public vote.

It may be that Dettori himself does not really know what he'll do and how to spend his time after his riding career are over. And for another one more day, he remains a top-level professional jockey, concentrating on three rides at one of the most prestigious and dazzling events on the schedule.

One Last Mount

A five-year-old mare named Argine will be Dettori’s final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the same race in which he registered his initial Breeders’ Cup win in 1994. Her form at home in Japan suggests that she needs to improve to compete, but few riders historically have excelled in big moments like Frankie Dettori.

One last time, is it time for Frankie?