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It has been an exhilarating, glorious and sometimes rocky path, but this time, it seems Frankie Dettori's decision is final. The most celebrated rider over the last 40 years is set to enter retirement after the main card during the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar on Saturday, when he will have three opportunities to secure one last Grade One winner to his almost 300 on his record already. Racing may not witness a career quite like it again.

An Iconic Figure

Together with racing great Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck over the past half-century, “Frankie” registers with almost everybody, no surname required. The public knows who he is, even if they have absolutely no interest in his profession. In today's world that has been fragmented by social media and online networks, Dettori could be the final equestrian personality that will ever experience such immediate name-recognition among a wide segment of the British population.

His entire career in the sport, after all, dates back to an era when A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in more than 10 million viewers, and a three-year stint as a team leader was sufficient to cement him as the lively, unforgettable figure of the sport. His last year on the show was 2004, which was also the time when he won the top jockey award for the third and last occasion. For many in the UK, however, he has probably been the top jockey in most years since.

A Hard-Won Celebrity

It is, in many ways, a hard-won celebrity, a double-edged reward for incidents both on and off the track which have often pushed Dettori onto the front pages, since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame massive 25,000-1 odds 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, following an accident on takeoff in which the plane’s pilot lost his life. When he finally ended his quest for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became front-page news.

While everyone admires a winner, they often love a flawed hero and a return all the more. A half-year suspension following a positive drug test for cocaine would have been the finish for most jockeys in their forties, plenty of time for owners and trainers to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, though, suspension in December 2012 served as a bridge to a revived partnership with trainer John Gosden at Newmarket, and a fresh succession of winners and Classic winners, such as 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 in March that he was filing for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with HMRC regarding unpaid taxes, a situation that he attempted, and did not succeed, to keep confidential.

There have been numerous turns in his story, indeed, that it can be easy to overlook that absent his tremendous, generational talent, there would be no narrative whatsoever.

Natural Ability

It was evident from his earliest days as a teenage apprentice that he had an instinctive rapport with the horses whenever Dettori was in the saddle.

Steeds performed for him, and got better under him. Back in 1990, he was the first teenager since Lester Piggott to achieve 100 wins in one season, and also announced his emergence among the elite with two Group One wins at Ascot, on the same day that he would charge without a loss just six years later. The famous flying dismount, adopted from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the buzz from winning major races has always stayed with him. Nor has the gift of knowing, with something akin to foresight, where to position, when to make a move and where openings will appear.

The Future Ahead

But what next for the public face of British 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, which is something he always wanted to experience”. It is not, in fact, an ambition that he has 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 sufficient funds saved up to relax and take things easy.

New Role and Opportunities

He has already been confirmed in a new role as a “global ambassador” with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian’s growing Amo Racing operation. He explained to racing presenter Matt Chapman on Friday this was the primary reason for his exit now, along with the chance to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances are rare, very often. I like the set-up – this is a young team with huge goals,” explained the jockey.

Joorabchian personally, was gushing in his praise for his new recruit at Del Mar on Thursday. “He’s an icon, he is a true legend in the sport,” he stated. “When discussing great sportsmen like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Messis and Pelé and similar figures, Frankie represents that to horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you notice a statue, you realize that he has influenced countless lives across the world.

“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 all aspects of our business though he won't serve as a racing manager. He is an international ambassador.”

Reality TV are another option, though previous appearances on Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity have tended to reveal a more somber aspect of his personality, behind the ebullient public persona. In both programs, he was an early casualty due to viewer votes.

It may be that Dettori personally is unsure what he will do and how he will fill his time once his riding career ends. And for another one more day, he remains an elite professional jockey, focused on three mounts at one of the most 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 where he achieved his first Breeders’ Cup success in 1994. Her form at home in Japan suggests that she needs to improve to compete, but few riders historically have excelled in big moments like Lanfranco Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?