The journey has been an exhilarating, glorious and at times rocky path, but this time, it seems the famed jockey's mind is made up. The most celebrated rider over the last 40 years will effectively enter retirement following the primary events at the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar this Saturday, where he has three opportunities to add a farewell top-tier victory to his almost 300 on his record already. Racing may not witness a career like his ever again.
Alongside racing great Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck in the last half-century, “Frankie” registers with pretty much everyone, without needing a last name. People know his identity, even if they possess absolutely no interest in his profession. In a world which has become divided by social media and the internet, Dettori could be the last racing figure that will ever experience such immediate name-recognition across a broad swathe of the British population.
His entire career in the sport, after all, dates back to an era when A Question Of Sport often attracted over 10 million audience members, and his three-year role as a team captain was more than enough to establish him as the bubbly, unforgettable figure of the sport. His last year on the program was 2004, that was also the time when he secured the top jockey award for the third and last occasion. For much of the British public, however, he has likely been the top jockey in most years after that.
It is, in many ways, a hard-won celebrity, a mixed blessing for events on and off the racecourse which have often pushed Dettori into the headlines, since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame massive 25,000-1 odds to win all seven races that day.
Back in June 2000, he was pulled from a fiery crash of a light aircraft by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, following an accident on takeoff in which the plane’s pilot was killed. When at last concluded his pursuit for a Derby victory in 2007, that also became front-page news.
While everyone admires a champion, they often love an imperfect hero and a return all the more. A six-month ban after a failed drug test for cocaine could have been the end of most jockeys in their forties, more than enough time for trainers and owners to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, however, his 2012 suspension served as a bridge to a renewed association with John Gosden at Newmarket, and a fresh succession of winners and Classic winners, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.
The public highs and setbacks have been a crucial element of his narrative, up to and including the embarrassing confession in March that he filed for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with HMRC regarding unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and failed, to keep confidential.
There have been numerous turns in his story, indeed, that it's easy to forget that absent Dettori’s immense, once-in-a-generation skill, there would have been no narrative whatsoever.
It was evident from the start as a teenage apprentice that he had a natural connection with the horses when Dettori was on board.
Horses ran for him, and got better under him. Back in 1990, he became the first teen since Lester Piggott to reach 100 winners in a season, and also marked his arrival among the elite with two Group One wins at Ascot, on the same day that he would charge without a loss just six years later. His iconic flying dismount, copied from the US legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into his routine in 1994, and the buzz from riding a big-race winner has never left him. Neither has the talent of sensing, with something akin to foresight, where to position, when to make a move and where the gaps will emerge.
But what next for the recognizable figure of UK horse racing? It won't be simple to finally let go, regardless if Dettori fulfils his apparent desire to take “a few rides in South America, which is something he always wanted to experience”. It is not, after all, an ambition that he has mentioned until now.
However, the disastrous choice to accept the tax advice that led to his dispute with HMRC indicates that he will not draw down the curtain with sufficient funds in the bank to kick back and take things easy.
He has already been confirmed in a new role as a “global ambassador” with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian’s burgeoning Amo Racing operation. Dettori told racing presenter Matt Chapman last Friday this was the main reason for his exit now, as well as being able to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities are rare, very often. I like the set-up – it's a youthful team with huge goals,” said the rider.
Joorabchian, himself, was effusive in his compliments for his new recruit on Thursday at Del Mar. “He is an icon, a genuine legend of the sport,” he stated. “When discussing elite athletes such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Messis and Pelés and similar figures, Frankie is that for horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you notice a statue, you know that he’s made a big impact on so many lives worldwide.“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to entertain people, he's here to work and he will working with us very closely. He will participate in all aspects of our business though he won't serve as a racing manager. He is a global ambassador.”
Television reality shows 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 of the public vote.
It's possible that Dettori himself is unsure what he'll do and how he will fill his time once his riding career are over. And for at least 24 hours at least, he remains a top-level professional jockey, concentrating on three rides at one of the most prestigious and dazzling events in the calendar.
A five-year-old filly called Argine will be his final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the same race in which he registered his first Breeders’ Cup success back in 1994. Her form at home in Japan suggests that she has something to improve to compete, but few riders historically have risen to an occasion like Frankie Dettori.
One last time, cue Frankie?
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