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The journey has been a thrilling, magnificent and at times bumpy ride, but this time, it seems the famed jockey's mind is made up. The most storied jockey over the last 40 years is set to head into retirement after the main card at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar this Saturday, where he has three chances to secure one last top-tier victory to his almost 300 on his record already. The sport might not witness a career quite like it again.

An Iconic Figure

Alongside Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck over the past half-century, Frankie Dettori registers with almost everybody, without needing a last name. People know his identity, even if they have no interest at all in what he does. In a world which has become fragmented by social media and the internet, Dettori may well be the last racing figure who will ever experience such immediate brand recognition among a wide segment of the British population.

His entire career in horse racing, after all, dates back to a time when A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in more than 10 million audience members, and his three-year role as a team leader was more than enough to establish him as the lively, unforgettable figure of racing. His final year on the program came in 2004, which was also the time when he won the top jockey award for a third and last occasion. As far as much of the British public, though, he has likely been the champion for many seasons since.

A Hard-Earned Fame

This is, in many respects, a hard-earned fame, a mixed blessing for incidents both on and off the track that have repeatedly pushed 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.

Back in June 2000, he was pulled from a fiery crash of a light aircraft by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, after a crash on takeoff in which the plane’s pilot lost his life. When at last concluded his pursuit for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became headline news.

While everyone admires a winner, they frequently adore an imperfect hero and a comeback even more. A half-year suspension after a failed drug test for cocaine would have been the end of most jockeys in their 40s, plenty of time for trainers and owners to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, though, suspension in December 2012 served as a bridge to a revived partnership with John Gosden in Newmarket, and a fresh succession of champions and classic victors, such as Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The public highs and lows were an essential part of his narrative, right up until the humiliating admission in March that he was filing for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with tax authorities over unpaid taxes, a circumstance that he attempted, and failed, to keep confidential.

There have been so many twists in his story, indeed, that it can be easy to forget that without Dettori’s immense, once-in-a-generation skill, there would have been no story at all.

Early Talent and Instincts

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

Horses ran 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 marked his arrival among the elite with a Group One double 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 his routine in 1994, and the buzz from riding a big-race winner has never left him. Nor has the gift of knowing, with almost foresight, where to sit, when to make a move and where the gaps will appear.

The Future Ahead

But what next for the public face of British racing? It won't be simple to finally let go, whether or not Dettori pursues his apparent desire to take “a few rides in South America, something that I’ve always wanted to do”. This is not, in fact, a goal that he had 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 enough money in the bank to relax and take things easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has been appointed to a new position as an international ambassador with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian’s burgeoning Amo Racing enterprise. He explained to racing presenter Matt Chapman last Friday this was the primary reason for his departure now, along with the chance to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities don’t come along, very often. I like the set-up – this is a young team with big ambitions,” said the rider.

Joorabchian, himself, was gushing in his praise for his new ambassador on Thursday at Del Mar. “He is an icon, he is a true legend of the sport,” he stated. “When discussing elite athletes like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Lionel Messi and Pelés and people like that, Frankie represents that for horse racing. When visiting 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 entertain people, he's here to work and he will working with us very closely. He will participate in every area of our business [but] he won’t be a racing manager. He is a global ambassador.”

Reality TV is another possibility, although earlier outings on Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity have tended to reveal 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 may be that Dettori personally is unsure 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 mounts at one of the most prestigious and dazzling events in the calendar.

One Last Mount

A five-year-old filly named Argine will be Dettori’s final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the same race where he achieved his first Breeders’ Cup success back in 1994. Her performance in Japan in Japan suggests that she has something to improve to compete, yet few jockeys in history have ever risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?