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It has been an exhilarating, magnificent and at times bumpy ride, yet now, it appears the famed jockey's mind is made up. The most celebrated jockey over the last 40 years will effectively head into retirement after the main card at the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar this Saturday, when he will have three opportunities to add a farewell top-tier victory to nearly 300 already in his record. The sport might not see a career quite like it again.

An Iconic Figure

Together with Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck in the last 50 years, Frankie Dettori registers with almost everybody, without needing a last name. People know his identity, even if they possess absolutely no interest in his profession. In a world which has become divided by digital platforms and online networks, Dettori may well be the last racing figure that will ever experience such immediate name-recognition across a broad swathe of Britain's people.

Dettori’s lifetime in horse racing, in fact, dates back to a time when the show A Question Of Sport often attracted more than 10 million viewers, and a three-year stint as a team leader was sufficient to establish him as the bubbly, unforgettable figure of the sport. His final year on the program was 2004, that was also the year when he secured the top jockey award for a third and final time. As far as many in the UK, however, he has probably been the champion for many seasons since.

A Hard-Earned Fame

It is, in many ways, a hard-earned fame, a mixed blessing for events both on and off the racecourse that have repeatedly propelled Dettori into the headlines, since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame odds of 25,000-1 to ride all seven winners that day.

Back in June 2000, he was pulled from the burning wreckage of a small plane by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, after a crash on takeoff in which the plane’s pilot was killed. When at last ended his quest for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became headline news.

And if everyone loves a winner, they frequently adore a flawed 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 forties, more than enough time for trainers and owners to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, though, suspension in December 2012 was a bridge to a revived partnership with John Gosden at Newmarket, and a fresh succession of champions and classic victors, such as Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The celebrated successes and lows have been an essential part of his narrative, up to and including the humiliating admission in March that he was filing for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with HMRC over unpaid taxes, a situation that he attempted, and did not succeed, to keep private.

There were numerous turns in his story, in fact, that it's easy to forget that without his tremendous, once-in-a-generation skill, there would be no narrative whatsoever.

Early Talent and Instincts

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

Steeds performed for him, and improved for him. In 1990, he became the first teen since 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 through unbeaten only six years later. His iconic flying dismount, copied from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the thrill from riding a big-race winner has always stayed with him. Neither has the talent of sensing, with almost foresight, where to sit, when to make a move and where openings 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 fulfils his expressed wish to accept some mounts in South America, which is something he always wanted to experience”. This is not, in fact, an ambition that he had mentioned previously.

However, the disastrous choice to accept the tax advice that resulted in his tax issues indicates that he will not draw down the curtain with enough money saved up to kick back and take it easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has already been confirmed in a new role as a “global ambassador” with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian's burgeoning Amo Racing enterprise. Dettori told racing presenter Matt Chapman on Friday this was the main reason for his departure now, as well as being able to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances don’t come along, very often. I like the set-up – it's a youthful team with big ambitions,” explained the jockey.

Joorabchian, himself, was gushing in his praise for his new recruit at Del Mar on Thursday. “He is an icon, a genuine legend of the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When you talk about elite athletes like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Messis and Pelé and people like that, Frankie represents that for horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you notice a statue, you realize that he’s made a big impact countless lives across the world.

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

Reality TV is another possibility, though previous appearances on Celebrity Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity often showed a more somber aspect of his personality, behind the ebullient public persona. On both shows, he was an early exit of the public vote.

It's possible that Dettori himself does not really know what he'll do and how to spend his time after his race-riding days ends. And for another one more day, he remains a top-level professional jockey, concentrating on three rides at one of the globe's prestigious and dazzling events on the schedule.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old filly named Argine will be his last top-level ride in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event where he achieved his initial Breeders’ Cup win in 1994. Her form at home in Japan suggests that she needs to find to figure, yet few jockeys in history have ever risen to an occasion like Frankie Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?