The Legendary Jockey: What Lies Ahead as Horse Racing's Biggest Star Exits the Stage?

It has been an exhilarating, magnificent and sometimes bumpy ride, but this time, it seems Frankie Dettori's decision is final. The most storied rider of the past 40 years will effectively enter retirement after the main card during the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar this Saturday, where he has three opportunities to add a farewell Grade One winner to nearly 300 on his record already. The sport might not witness a career like his ever again.

A Household Name

Alongside racing great Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck over the past 50 years, Frankie Dettori registers with pretty much everyone, no surname required. The public knows who he is, even if they have no interest at all in what he does. In today's world which has become fragmented 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 Britain's people.

His entire career in the sport, after all, dates back to an era when the show A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in over 10 million audience members, and his three-year role as a team captain was more than enough to cement him as the bubbly, unforgettable figure of racing. His last year on the show came in 2004, that was also the time when he won the top jockey award for a third and final time. For much of the British public, though, he has likely been the top jockey for many seasons after that.

A Hard-Won Celebrity

This is, in many ways, a hard-earned fame, a double-edged reward for events both on and off the racecourse which have often propelled Dettori onto the front pages, 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 rescued from the burning wreckage of a small plane by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, after a crash during takeoff where the pilot was killed. When at last concluded his pursuit for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became headline news.

And if everyone loves a winner, they often love a flawed hero and a comeback all the more. A half-year suspension following a positive drug test for cocaine would have been the finish for many riders in their 40s, 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 renewed association with John Gosden in Newmarket, and a new series of winners and Classic winners, such as Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The celebrated successes and setbacks have been an essential part of his narrative, up to and including the embarrassing confession in March that he filed for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with tax authorities over unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and failed, to keep confidential.

There were so many twists to the tale, in fact, that it's easy to forget that without Dettori’s immense, once-in-a-generation skill, there would have been no story at all.

Early Talent and Instincts

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

Horses ran for him, and got better under him. In 1990, he became the first teen since Piggott to reach 100 winners in a season, and also announced his emergence among the elite with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same day that he would charge through unbeaten only six years later. His iconic 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 knowing, with something akin to foresight, where to sit, when to make a move and where openings will emerge.

What Comes Next?

But what next for the recognizable figure of UK horse racing? It will not be easy to finally let go, whether or not Dettori pursues his apparent desire to accept some mounts in South America, which is something I’ve always wanted to do”. It is not, after all, an ambition that he had mentioned until now.

But the calamitous decision to accept the tax advice that resulted in his dispute with HMRC means that Dettori will not draw down the curtain with enough money saved up to kick back and take it easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has already 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 main reason for his departure now, along with the chance to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities are rare, frequently. I like the set-up – it's a youthful team with huge goals,” 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,” he stated. “When you talk about great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Messis and Pelés and similar figures, Frankie is that to horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you know that he has influenced on so many lives worldwide.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to amuse audiences, he's here to work and he will be collaborate with us very closely. He will be involved in all aspects 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 Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity often showed a moodier side of his personality, beneath the cheerful public image. In both programs, he was an early casualty due to viewer votes.

It's possible that Dettori himself does not really know what he will do and how he will fill his time once his race-riding days ends. And for another one more day, he stays a top-level professional jockey, focused on three mounts at one of the most prestigious and glamorous events on the schedule.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old filly named Argine will be his last top-level ride in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event where he achieved his initial Breeders’ Cup win back in 1994. Her form at home in Japan suggests that she needs to find to figure, but few riders historically have risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?