The journey has been an exhilarating, magnificent and sometimes bumpy ride, yet now, it seems Frankie Dettori's mind is made up. The most storied rider over the last 40 years is set to enter retirement following the primary events at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar on Saturday, where he has three chances to add a farewell top-tier victory to nearly 300 already in his record. Racing may not see a career like his ever again.
Alongside racing great Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck in the last half-century, Frankie Dettori registers with almost everybody, without needing a last name. People know his identity, even if they possess no interest at all in his profession. In a world which has become fragmented by digital platforms and online networks, Dettori could be the last racing figure that will ever enjoy such instant name-recognition among a wide segment of Britain's people.
His entire career in the sport, after all, goes back to a time when A Question Of Sport often attracted more than 10 million viewers, and a three-year stint as a team captain was more than enough to cement him as the lively, irrepressible face of the sport. His last 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. As far as much of the British public, however, he has likely been the top jockey for many seasons after that.
This is, in many respects, a hard-won celebrity, a mixed blessing for incidents on and off the racecourse that have repeatedly pushed Dettori into the headlines, since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame odds of 25,000-1 to win all seven races that day.
Back in June 2000, he was rescued from a fiery crash of a light aircraft by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, following an accident during takeoff where the pilot was killed. When at last ended his quest for a Derby victory in 2007, that also became front-page news.
And if everyone loves a champion, they often love an imperfect 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, plenty of time for trainers and owners to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, though, suspension in December 2012 served as a bridge to a renewed association with trainer John Gosden in Newmarket, and a new series of champions and Classic winners, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.
The public highs and setbacks were an essential part of his narrative, right up until the embarrassing confession in March that he filed for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with HMRC regarding unpaid taxes, a circumstance that he attempted, and did not succeed, to keep private.
There have been numerous turns to the tale, indeed, that it can be easy to overlook that absent Dettori’s immense, generational talent, there would have been no narrative whatsoever.
It was clear from his earliest days as a teenage apprentice that he had a natural connection between horse and rider when Dettori was on board.
Steeds performed for him, and improved for him. In 1990, he was the first teenager since Lester Piggott to achieve 100 wins in one season, and also marked his arrival at the highest level with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same day that he would charge through unbeaten only six years later. The famous flying dismount, copied from the US legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the buzz from riding a big-race winner has always stayed with him. Neither has the talent of knowing, with almost foresight, where to position, when to make a move and where the gaps will emerge.
But what now for the public face of British racing? It won't be simple to finally let go, regardless if Dettori fulfils his expressed wish to accept some mounts in South America, something that I’ve always wanted to do”. This is not, after all, a goal that he had mentioned previously.
But the calamitous decision to follow tax guidance that resulted in his dispute with HMRC means that Dettori will not draw down the curtain with enough money saved up to relax and take it easy.
He has been appointed to a new position as a “global ambassador” with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian's burgeoning Amo Racing enterprise. He explained to racing presenter Matt Chapman last Friday this was the primary reason for his departure now, along with the chance to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances are rare, frequently. I like the set-up – it's a youthful team with big ambitions,” explained the jockey.
Joorabchian, himself, was effusive in his compliments for his new recruit at Del Mar on Thursday. “He’s an icon, he is a true legend of the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When discussing great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Currys, Messis and Pelés and people like that, Frankie is that for horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you realize that he has influenced on so many lives across the world.“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to entertain people, he’s here to actually work and he will collaborate with us closely. He will be involved in every area of our operations though he won't serve as 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 of his personality, beneath the cheerful public image. On both shows, he was an early exit of the public vote.
It's possible that Dettori personally is unsure what he'll do and how he will fill his time after his race-riding days are over. And for at least 24 hours at least, he remains a top-level professional jockey, focused on three rides at one of the most prestigious and glamorous events in the calendar.
A five-year-old mare called Argine will be Dettori’s last top-level ride in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the same race in which he registered his initial Breeders’ Cup win back in 1994. Her form at home indicates that she has something to find to figure, yet few jockeys in history have ever excelled in big moments like Frankie Dettori.
One last time, is it time for Frankie?
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