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It has been a thrilling, magnificent and sometimes bumpy ride, but this time, it seems Frankie Dettori's decision is final. The most celebrated rider of the past 40 years is set to enter retirement following the primary events at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar this Saturday, where he has three chances to add a farewell top-tier victory to nearly 300 already in his record. Racing may not see a career quite like it again.

A Household Name

Alongside racing great Lester Piggott and perhaps 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 possess absolutely no interest in his profession. In a world which has become fragmented by digital platforms and the internet, Dettori may well be the final equestrian personality that will ever enjoy such instant name-recognition across a broad swathe of Britain's people.

His entire career in the sport, in fact, goes back to an era when the show A Question Of Sport often attracted over 10 million audience members, and a three-year stint as a team captain was sufficient to establish him as the bubbly, irrepressible face of the sport. His last year on the show was 2004, that was also the year when he secured the top jockey award for a third and last occasion. As far as many in the UK, though, he has probably been the champion for many seasons after that.

A Hard-Won Celebrity

This is, in many ways, a hard-won celebrity, a mixed blessing for events on and off the track that have repeatedly pushed Dettori into the headlines, ever since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame massive 25,000-1 odds to ride all seven winners on the card.

Back in June 2000, he was pulled from the burning wreckage of a light aircraft by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, following an accident during takeoff in which the plane’s pilot was killed. When at last concluded his pursuit for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became headline news.

While everyone admires a champion, they frequently adore an imperfect hero and a comeback even more. A six-month ban following a positive drug test for cocaine could have been the end of many riders in their 40s, more than enough time for trainers and owners to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, however, his 2012 suspension served as a bridge to a revived partnership with John Gosden at Newmarket, and a new series of champions and classic victors, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The celebrated successes and setbacks were a crucial element of his narrative, up to and including the embarrassing confession this past March that he filed for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with tax authorities over unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and failed, to keep confidential.

There have been numerous turns in his story, indeed, that it can be easy to overlook that without Dettori’s immense, generational talent, there would be no story at all.

Natural Ability

It was clear from the start as a young apprentice that there was a natural connection with the horses whenever Dettori was on board.

Steeds performed for him, and got better under him. In 1990, he became the first teen since Lester Piggott to reach 100 winners in a season, and also announced his arrival at the highest level with two Group One wins at Ascot, on the same day that he would dominate without a loss just six years later. The famous flying dismount, adopted from the US legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the thrill from riding a big-race winner has never left him. Nor has the gift of sensing, with something akin to clairvoyance, where to sit, when to strike and where the gaps will appear.

The Future Ahead

But what next for the public face of UK horse racing? It won't be simple to finally let go, regardless if Dettori pursues his apparent desire to take “a few rides in South America, which is something he always wanted to do”. It is not, after all, a goal that he had mentioned previously.

However, the disastrous choice to follow tax guidance that resulted in his tax issues indicates that Dettori will not draw down the curtain with enough money in the bank to relax and take it easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has already been appointed to a new position as an international ambassador with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian’s growing Amo Racing enterprise. He explained to Matt Chapman on At The Races on Friday this was the main reason for his exit now, along with the chance to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities don’t come along, very often. I appreciate the structure – it's a youthful team with huge goals,” explained the jockey.

Joorabchian, himself, was gushing in his praise for his new ambassador at Del Mar on Thursday. “He’s an icon, a genuine legend in the sport,” he stated. “When discussing great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Lionel Messi and Pelés and people like that, Frankie represents that for horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, 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 work and he will be working with us very closely. He will be involved in every area of our business though he won't serve as a racing manager. He is an international ambassador.”

Television reality shows is another possibility, though previous appearances on Celebrity 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 exit due to viewer votes.

It's possible that Dettori personally does not really know what he will do and how to spend his time once his race-riding days ends. And for another 24 hours at least, he stays an elite professional jockey, focused on three rides at one of the most prestigious and dazzling events on the schedule.

One Last Mount

A five-year-old mare called Argine will be Dettori’s final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event in which he registered his initial Breeders’ Cup win in 1994. Her form at home indicates that she needs to find to figure, yet few jockeys in history have ever excelled in big moments like Lanfranco Dettori.

For one final time, cue Frankie?