IIt's been a whirlwind, glorious and at times bumpy ride, but this time it looks like Frankie Dettori has made up his mind. The most legendary jockey of the last 40 years will effectively retire after the Breeders' Cup main event at Del Mar on Saturday, when he will have three chances to add a valedictorian Grade 1 winner to the nearly 300 already on his resume. A racing career may not see a career like this again.
Along with Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck, “Frankie” has been registered with virtually everyone over the last half century, no surname required. People know who he is, even if they have no interest in what he does. In a world fragmented by social media and the internet, Dettori may well be the last racing figure whose name will ever be so instantly recognizable among large sections of the British population.
After all, Dettori's life in sport began in the era when “A Question of Sport” regularly attracted more than 10 million spectators, and his three-year stint as team captain was more than enough to establish him as the playful and irrepressible face of racing. His last year on the show was 2004, which was also the year he won the Flat Jockeys' title for the third and final time. However, as far as the majority of the British public was concerned, he was arguably the champion from then on.
In many ways it is a hard-won celebrity, a double-edged reward for events both on and off the track that have propelled Dettori to the front pages on numerous occasions since. an unforgettable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied 25,000-1 odds and rode all seven card winners.
In June 2000 he was pulled out of the burning wreckage of a light aircraft by fellow racer Ray Cochrane after a takeoff crash that killed the plane's pilot. When he finally ended his quest for a Derby winner in 2007, it, too, was major news.
And if everyone loves a winner, they often love an imperfect hero and a comeback even more. A six-month ban after a failed drug test for cocaine would have been the end for most jockeys in their 40s. This is more than enough time for owners and trainers to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, however, disqualification in December 2012 was the bridge to a renewed partnership with John Gosden at Newmarket and a new string of champions and Classic winners including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.
There were social ups and downs an essential part of Dettori's historyright down to the humiliating admission in March that he had filed for bankruptcy following a long-running dispute with HMRC over unpaid taxes, a situation which Dettori tried but failed to keep secret.
In fact, there were so many twists and turns to the story that it can be easy to forget that without Dettori's immense talent, there would be no story at all. From Dettori's earliest days as a teenage apprentice, it was clear that there was an instinctive connection between horse and rider when Dettori was in the saddle.
The horses ran after him and improved for his sake. In 1990, he was the first teenager since Piggott to reach 100 wins in a season, and also announced his promotion to the top level with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same card he would emerge unbeaten just six years later.
The famous flying dismount, copied from American racing legend Angel Cordero Jr., was added to Dettori's repertoire in 1994, and the pleasure of riding a big-race winner has never left him. Nor does he have the gift of knowledge, akin to clairvoyance, of where to sit, when to strike, and where gaps will appear.
But what about the public face of British racing now? It won't be easy to finally let go, regardless of whether Dettori fulfills his apparent desire to “do some trips around South America, which is something I've always wanted to do.” After all, this is not the ambition he has spoken of so far.
But catastrophic decision accepting the tax advice that led to his dispute with HMRC means Dettori won't bring the curtain down on his career with enough money in the bank to sit back and take it easy.
He has already been confirmed in a new role as “global ambassador” for football super agent Kia Joorabchian’s growing Amo Racing operation. Dettori talks to Matt Chapman about At The Races on Friday, it was the main reason for his withdrawal and the opportunity to finish in the Breeders' Cup. “Opportunities like this don't come around very often. I like the setup – it's a young team with big ambitions,” the jockey explained.
Joorabchian himself heaped praise on his new recruit in Del Mar on Thursday. “He’s an icon, a true legend of the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When you talk about great athletes like LeBron James, [Steph] Curry, Messis, Peles and the like, Frankie is the same as horse racing. When you walk into Royal Ascot and see the statue there, you know he had a big impact on the lives of so many people around the world.
“He's not here to entertain people, he's here to actually work and he'll be working very closely with us. He'll be involved in every aspect of our business. [but] he will not be a racing manager. He's a global ambassador.”
Reality TV is another possibility, although earlier appearances on Celebrity Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity tended to reveal a sulkier side to Dettori's character behind his simmering public persona. In both shows, he became the first victim of the public vote.
Dettori himself may not know what he will do or how he will spend his time when his racing days are over. And for at least another 24 hours he remains a top-level professional jockey, focused on three rides at one of the most prestigious and glamorous events on the calendar.
A five-year-old filly named Argine would be Dettori's last Grade 1 horse in the Breeders' Cup Mile, the same race in which he registered his first Breeders' Cup success in 1994. Her form at home in Japan suggests she has a lot to learn, but few riders in history have ever risen to the heights of Lanfranco Dettori.
For the last time, any cue for Frankie?
