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

It 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 jockey over the last 40 years will effectively enter retirement after the main card during the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar on Saturday, when he will have three opportunities to secure one last Grade One winner to nearly 300 already in his record. Racing may not witness a career like his ever again.

A Household Name

Together with racing great Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck over the past half-century, Frankie Dettori is recognized by pretty much everyone, no surname required. The public knows who he is, even if they possess absolutely no interest in what he does. In a world that has been divided by digital platforms and the internet, Dettori may well be the final equestrian personality who will ever experience such immediate brand recognition among a wide segment of Britain's people.

Dettori’s lifetime in the sport, in fact, dates back to a time when the show A Question Of Sport often attracted more than 10 million audience members, and a three-year stint as a team leader was more than enough to establish him as the lively, unforgettable figure of the sport. His last year on the show was 2004, that was also the time when he secured the Flat jockeys’ title for the third and final time. As far as much of the British public, though, he has probably been the top jockey in most years since.

A Hard-Earned Fame

This is, in many ways, a hard-won celebrity, a double-edged reward for incidents on and off the racecourse which have often pushed Dettori onto the front pages, since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied odds of 25,000-1 to win all seven races on the card.

Back in June 2000, he was rescued from a fiery crash of a small plane by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, after a crash on takeoff where the pilot was killed. When he finally ended his quest for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became front-page news.

While everyone admires a champion, they frequently adore a flawed hero and a return all the more. A half-year suspension after a failed drug test for cocaine would 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 fresh succession of winners and Classic winners, such as Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The public highs and lows have been an essential part of Dettori’s story, up to and including the humiliating admission this past March that he filed for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with tax authorities over unpaid taxes, a circumstance that Dettori tried, and failed, to keep confidential.

There have been numerous turns to the tale, indeed, that it's easy to forget that without Dettori’s immense, generational talent, there would be no narrative whatsoever.

Natural Ability

It was clear from the start as a teenage apprentice that he had a natural connection with the horses when Dettori was in the saddle.

Steeds performed for him, and got better under him. Back in 1990, he was the first teenager since Piggott to reach 100 winners in one season, and also announced his arrival at the highest level with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same day that he would dominate without a loss 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 never left him. Nor has the gift of sensing, with something akin to clairvoyance, where to position, when to strike and where openings will emerge.

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 expressed wish to take “a few rides in South America, which is something I’ve always wanted to do”. This is not, in fact, a goal that he had mentioned previously.

But the calamitous decision to follow tax guidance that resulted in his tax issues indicates that he will not draw down the curtain with enough money saved up to relax and take it easy.

New Role and Opportunities

He has been appointed to a new position as an international ambassador with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian’s burgeoning Amo Racing operation. Dettori told Matt Chapman on At The Races last Friday this was the main reason for his exit now, as well as being able to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities don’t come along, frequently. 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 at Del Mar on Thursday. “He’s an icon, a genuine legend in the sport,” he stated. “When discussing elite athletes like LeBron James, Currys, Messis and Pelés and people like that, Frankie is that to horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you know that he’s made a big impact 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 working with us very closely. He will be involved in every area of our business [but] he won’t be a racing manager. He is a global ambassador.”

Reality TV is another possibility, though previous appearances on Celebrity Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity often showed a moodier side to Dettori’s character, beneath the cheerful public persona. In both programs, he was an early casualty of the public vote.

It's possible that Dettori himself is unsure what he'll do and how to spend his time once his race-riding days are over. And for at least one more day, he stays a top-level professional jockey, concentrating on three rides at one of the globe's prestigious and glamorous events on the schedule.

One Last Mount

A five-year-old mare named Argine will be his final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the same race in which he registered his initial Breeders’ Cup win in 1994. Her performance in Japan indicates that she needs to improve to compete, yet few jockeys historically have risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?