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The journey has been an exhilarating, glorious and at times bumpy ride, but this time, it appears the famed jockey's decision is final. The most celebrated rider of the past 40 years will effectively head into retirement after the main card during 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.

A Household Name

Alongside Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck in the last 50 years, Frankie Dettori is recognized by almost everybody, without needing a last name. The public knows who he is, even if they have no interest at all in his profession. In today's world that has been fragmented by digital platforms and the internet, Dettori could be the last racing figure that will ever experience such immediate brand recognition across a broad swathe of Britain's people.

Dettori’s lifetime in the sport, in fact, goes back to an era when A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in over 10 million viewers, and a three-year stint as a team leader was sufficient to establish him as the bubbly, unforgettable figure of racing. His final year on the program came in 2004, which was also the time when he secured the top jockey award for the third and last occasion. As far as much of the British public, though, he has probably been the top jockey in most years after that.

A Hard-Earned Fame

This is, in many respects, a hard-earned fame, a double-edged reward for incidents both on and off the racecourse which have often pushed Dettori into the headlines, ever since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied odds of 25,000-1 to ride all seven winners that day.

Back in June 2000, he was rescued from the burning wreckage of a light aircraft by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, after a crash during takeoff where the pilot lost his life. When at last concluded his pursuit for a Derby winner in 2007, that too was front-page news.

While everyone admires 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 finish for most jockeys in their forties, more than enough time for trainers and owners to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, though, his 2012 suspension was a bridge to a revived partnership with trainer John Gosden in Newmarket, and a fresh succession of winners and classic victors, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The public highs and lows were an essential part of his narrative, up to and including the humiliating admission this past March that he filed for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with HMRC over unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and did not succeed, to keep private.

There were so many twists to the tale, indeed, that it can be easy to overlook that without Dettori’s immense, once-in-a-generation skill, there would be no narrative whatsoever.

Natural Ability

It was clear from the start as a young apprentice that he had an instinctive rapport with the horses when Dettori was in the saddle.

Horses ran for him, and got better under him. In 1990, he became the first teen since Lester Piggott to achieve 100 wins in one season, and also marked his arrival among the elite with two Group One wins at Ascot, on the same card that he would charge 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 winning major races has never left him. Nor has the gift of sensing, with almost clairvoyance, where to position, when to strike and where openings will emerge.

The Future Ahead

But what next for the public face of British racing? It will not be easy to finally let go, regardless if Dettori fulfils his expressed wish to take “a few rides in South America, which is something I’ve always wanted to do”. It is not, after all, an ambition that he has mentioned previously.

But the calamitous decision to follow tax guidance that led to his dispute with HMRC indicates that he will not end his career with sufficient funds saved up to relax and take things easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has been appointed to a new position as an international ambassador with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian’s burgeoning Amo Racing enterprise. He explained to Matt Chapman on At The Races on Friday this was the main reason for his departure now, as well as being able to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities don’t come along, frequently. I appreciate the structure – it's a youthful team with big ambitions,” explained the jockey.

Joorabchian, himself, was effusive in his compliments for his new ambassador at Del Mar on Thursday. “He’s an icon, a genuine legend of the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When discussing great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Lionel Messi and Pelés and similar figures, Frankie is that for horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you notice a statue, you realize that he has influenced 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 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 a global ambassador.”

Television reality shows is another possibility, though previous appearances on Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity … often showed a moodier side to Dettori’s character, behind the ebullient public persona. In both programs, he was an early exit due to viewer votes.

It may be that Dettori himself does not really know what he will do and how he will fill his time after his riding career ends. And for another one more day, he stays a top-level professional jockey, concentrating on three rides at one of the most prestigious and dazzling events on the schedule.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old filly called Argine will be his final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event where he achieved his initial Breeders’ Cup win back in 1994. Her form at home indicates that she needs to improve to compete, but few riders historically have risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?