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It has been a thrilling, glorious and at times bumpy ride, yet now, it seems the famed jockey's mind is made up. The most celebrated rider of the past four decades will effectively head into retirement after the main card 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. Racing may not witness a career quite like it again.

An Iconic Figure

Alongside racing great Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck in the last half-century, “Frankie” is recognized by pretty much everyone, without needing a last name. People know his identity, even if they possess no interest at all in his profession. In today's world which has become divided by social media and the internet, Dettori may well be the last racing figure that will ever experience such immediate name-recognition among a wide segment 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 more than enough to cement him as the bubbly, irrepressible face of the sport. His final year on the show was 2004, which was also the year when he won the Flat jockeys’ title for a third and last occasion. For much of the British public, however, he has likely been the champion in most years after that.

A Hard-Earned Fame

It is, in many respects, a hard-earned fame, a double-edged reward for incidents on and off the track which have often propelled Dettori into the headlines, ever since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he defied massive 25,000-1 odds to ride all seven winners on the card.

In June 2000, he was pulled from a fiery crash 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 front-page news.

And if everyone loves a champion, they frequently adore an imperfect hero and a comeback all the more. A six-month ban after a failed drug test for cocaine would have been the finish for many riders in their 40s, more than enough time for trainers and owners to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, however, his 2012 suspension was a bridge to a revived partnership with trainer John Gosden at Newmarket, and a new series of winners and Classic winners, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The public highs and lows have been 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 tax authorities regarding unpaid taxes, a circumstance that Dettori tried, and did not succeed, to keep confidential.

There were so many twists in his story, in fact, that it can be easy to overlook that without his tremendous, once-in-a-generation skill, there would have been no narrative whatsoever.

Natural Ability

It was clear from the start as a young apprentice that he had an instinctive rapport between horse and rider whenever Dettori was in the saddle.

Horses ran for him, and got better under him. Back in 1990, he became the first teen since Lester Piggott to achieve 100 wins 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 through unbeaten just six years later. His iconic flying dismount, copied from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was added to his routine in 1994, and the buzz from riding a big-race winner has always stayed with him. Neither has the talent of knowing, with something akin to foresight, 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 step away completely, regardless if Dettori pursues his expressed wish to take “a few rides in South America, something that I’ve always wanted to do”. It is not, in fact, an ambition that he has mentioned previously.

But the calamitous decision to accept the tax advice that led to his dispute with HMRC indicates that he will not end his career with sufficient funds saved up to kick back and take it easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has been confirmed in a new role as a “global ambassador” with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian's growing Amo Racing operation. Dettori told racing presenter Matt Chapman last Friday this was the main reason for his exit now, along with the chance to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances are rare, very often. I like the set-up – it's a youthful team with big ambitions,” said the rider.

Joorabchian, himself, was gushing in his praise for his new recruit at Del Mar on Thursday. “He is an icon, he is a true legend in the sport,” he stated. “When you talk about great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Messis and Pelé and people like that, Frankie represents that for horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you know that he’s made a big impact countless lives worldwide.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to amuse audiences, he's here to work and he will working with us closely. He will be involved in all aspects of our business though he won't serve as a racing manager. He is a global ambassador.”

Reality TV are another option, though previous appearances on Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity … often showed a more somber aspect of his personality, beneath the cheerful 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 once his race-riding days ends. 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 dazzling events in the calendar.

One Last Mount

A five-year-old filly named Argine will be his final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the same race where he achieved his first Breeders’ Cup success in 1994. Her form at home indicates that she needs to find to figure, but few riders in history have ever risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

For one final time, cue Frankie?