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It has been an exhilarating, magnificent and sometimes bumpy ride, but this time, it seems the famed jockey's mind is made up. The most storied rider of the past 40 years will effectively enter retirement following the primary events during the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar this Saturday, when he will have three opportunities to add a farewell top-tier victory to nearly 300 on his record already. The sport might 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 registers with pretty much everyone, without needing a last name. People know who he is, even if they possess no interest at all in what he does. In today's world which has become fragmented by social media 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.

Dettori’s lifetime in horse racing, after all, goes back to an era when the show A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in more than 10 million viewers, and a three-year stint as a team captain was more than enough to establish him as the bubbly, irrepressible face of the sport. His last year on the program came in 2004, which was also the year when he won the Flat jockeys’ title for a third and final time. As far as many in the UK, though, he has probably been the champion in most years after that.

A Hard-Won Celebrity

This is, in many respects, a hard-won celebrity, a mixed blessing for events on and off the track which have often pushed Dettori onto the front pages, ever since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied odds of 25,000-1 to ride all seven winners on the card.

Back in June 2000, he was rescued from a fiery crash of a small plane by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, following an accident during takeoff where the pilot lost his life. When he finally concluded his pursuit for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became headline news.

While everyone admires a winner, they frequently adore a flawed hero and a comeback even more. A half-year suspension following a positive drug test for cocaine could have been the finish for most jockeys in their 40s, plenty of time for owners and trainers to seek a younger replacement. 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, such as Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The public highs and setbacks have been an essential part of Dettori’s story, up to and including the humiliating admission this past March that he was filing for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with tax authorities over unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and failed, to keep private.

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

Early Talent and Instincts

It was clear from his earliest days as a young apprentice that there was a natural connection between horse and rider whenever Dettori was on board.

Steeds performed for him, and improved for him. Back in 1990, he was the first teenager since Lester Piggott to reach 100 winners in a season, and also announced his emergence at the highest level with two Group One wins at Ascot, on the same card that he would dominate through unbeaten only six years later. His iconic flying dismount, copied from the US legend Angel Cordero Jr, was added to Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the thrill from riding a big-race winner has always stayed with him. Nor has the gift of knowing, with almost clairvoyance, where to sit, when to strike and where the gaps will emerge.

What Comes Next?

But what next for the public face of UK horse racing? It will not be easy to step away completely, whether or not Dettori fulfils his apparent desire to take “a few rides in South America, which is something I’ve always wanted to do”. It is not, in fact, an ambition that he had mentioned previously.

However, the disastrous choice to follow tax guidance that resulted in his tax issues means that he will not end his career with sufficient funds saved up to relax and take things easy.

New Role and Opportunities

He has been appointed to a new position as a “global ambassador” with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian's growing Amo Racing operation. He explained to Matt Chapman on At The Races last Friday this was the primary reason for his exit now, as well as being able to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities don’t come along, frequently. I appreciate the structure – it's a youthful team with huge goals,” explained the jockey.

Joorabchian personally, was gushing in his praise for his new recruit on Thursday at Del Mar. “He is an icon, a genuine legend in the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When discussing great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Messis and Pelés and similar figures, Frankie represents that to 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 entertain people, he’s here to actually work and he will be collaborate with us closely. He will participate in all aspects of our operations [but] he won’t be a racing manager. He is a global ambassador.”

Reality TV is another possibility, although earlier outings on Celebrity Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity often showed a moodier side of his personality, beneath the cheerful public persona. On both shows, he was an early casualty 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 at least one more day, he stays an elite professional jockey, focused on three mounts at one of the globe's prestigious and dazzling events in the calendar.

One Last Mount

A five-year-old mare called 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 has something to find to figure, but few riders in history have ever risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

One last time, is it time for Frankie?