Frankie Dettori: What Comes Next as Racing's Biggest Star Steps Away?

It has been a thrilling, glorious and sometimes rocky path, but this time, it appears the famed jockey's decision is final. 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, where he has three chances to secure one last top-tier victory to nearly 300 already in his record. Racing may not see a career like his ever again.

A Household Name

Together with racing great Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck over the past 50 years, “Frankie” is recognized by pretty much everyone, no surname required. The public knows his identity, even if they have no interest at all in what he does. In a world that has been fragmented by digital platforms and the internet, Dettori may well be the final equestrian personality that will ever experience such immediate name-recognition across a broad swathe of Britain's people.

His entire career in the sport, after all, goes back to a time when the show A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in over 10 million viewers, and a three-year stint as a team captain was sufficient to cement him as the bubbly, irrepressible face of racing. His final year on the program was 2004, which was also the time when he secured the top jockey award for a third and last occasion. As far as much of the British public, though, he has probably been the champion in most years after that.

A Hard-Earned Fame

It is, in many respects, a hard-earned fame, a double-edged reward for events on and off the racecourse that have repeatedly propelled Dettori onto the front pages, ever since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he defied massive 25,000-1 odds to win all seven races on the card.

Back in June 2000, he was pulled from the burning wreckage of a small plane by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, after a crash on takeoff in which the plane’s pilot was killed. When he finally 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 all the more. A six-month ban after a failed drug test for cocaine could have been the finish for most jockeys in their forties, more than enough time for trainers and owners to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, though, suspension in December 2012 was a bridge to a revived partnership with trainer John Gosden in Newmarket, and a fresh succession of winners and Classic winners, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Public Highs and Lows

The public highs and lows were an essential part of his narrative, right up until the embarrassing confession in March that he was filing for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with tax authorities regarding unpaid taxes, a circumstance that he attempted, and failed, to keep confidential.

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

Early Talent and Instincts

It was evident from the start as a teenage apprentice that there was an instinctive rapport with the horses whenever Dettori was on board.

Horses ran for him, and improved for him. In 1990, he was the first teenager since Lester Piggott to achieve 100 wins in a season, and also marked his arrival at the highest level 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, copied from the US legend Angel Cordero Jr, was added to his routine in 1994, and the buzz from winning major races has never left him. Neither has the talent of sensing, with almost clairvoyance, where to position, when to make a move and where openings will appear.

The Future Ahead

But what now for the public face of British racing? It will not be easy to step away completely, whether or not Dettori pursues his apparent desire to take “a few rides in South America, something that he always wanted to do”. It is not, in fact, a goal that he has mentioned until now.

But the calamitous decision to follow tax guidance that resulted in his dispute with HMRC indicates that he will not end his career with enough money in the bank to relax and take things easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has already been appointed to a new position as an international ambassador with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian’s growing Amo Racing enterprise. He explained to racing presenter Matt Chapman on Friday this was the primary reason for his departure now, as well as being able to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances are rare, very often. I like the set-up – this is a young team with big ambitions,” explained the jockey.

Joorabchian, himself, was gushing in his praise for his new recruit on Thursday at Del Mar. “He’s an icon, a genuine legend of the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When you talk about great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Currys, Lionel Messi and Pelés and people like that, Frankie represents that for horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you notice a statue, you realize 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 actually work and he will collaborate with us very 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, although earlier outings on Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity often showed a moodier side of his personality, behind the ebullient public image. In both programs, he was an early casualty of the public vote.

It's possible that Dettori personally does not really know 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 stays a top-level professional jockey, focused on three rides at one of the globe's prestigious and dazzling events in the calendar.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old filly 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 back in 1994. Her form at home indicates that she has something to improve to compete, but few riders historically have risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

For one final time, is it time for Frankie?