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The journey has been a thrilling, glorious and at times bumpy ride, yet now, it seems Frankie Dettori's decision is final. The most celebrated rider over the last 40 years is set to head into retirement following the primary events during the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar this Saturday, when he will have three opportunities to add a farewell Grade One winner to his almost 300 already in his record. Racing may not witness a career quite like it again.

An Iconic Figure

Together with Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck over the past half-century, “Frankie” registers with almost everybody, without needing a last name. People know his identity, even if they possess absolutely no interest in what he does. In a world that has been fragmented by digital platforms and online networks, Dettori could be the last racing figure that will ever experience such immediate brand recognition among a wide segment of the British population.

Dettori’s lifetime in the sport, in fact, goes back to a time when A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in over 10 million audience members, and a three-year stint as a team captain was sufficient to establish him as the bubbly, irrepressible face of racing. His final year on the show was 2004, which was also the time when he secured the top jockey award for the third and final time. For much of the British public, however, he has likely been the champion for many seasons after that.

A Hard-Won Celebrity

It is, in many ways, a hard-won celebrity, a mixed blessing for events both on and off the track which have often propelled Dettori onto the front pages, since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied massive 25,000-1 odds 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, following an accident on takeoff in which the plane’s pilot was killed. When at last ended his quest for a Derby victory in 2007, that too was headline news.

And if everyone loves a champion, they often love an imperfect hero and a return all the more. A half-year suspension after a failed drug test for cocaine could have been the end of most jockeys in their 40s, more than enough time for owners and trainers to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, though, suspension in December 2012 was a bridge to a renewed association with John Gosden in Newmarket, and a new series of winners and classic victors, such as Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The public highs and lows were a crucial element of his narrative, right up until the embarrassing confession in March that he was filing for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with tax authorities over unpaid taxes, a circumstance that Dettori tried, and did not succeed, to keep private.

There have been numerous turns in his story, indeed, that it can be easy to overlook that without Dettori’s immense, once-in-a-generation skill, there would have been no narrative whatsoever.

Early Talent and Instincts

It was evident from his earliest days as a teenage apprentice that there was an instinctive rapport 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 Piggott to achieve 100 wins in one season, and also announced his emergence at the highest level with two Group One wins at Ascot, on the same day that he would charge without a loss only six years later. The famous flying dismount, copied from the US legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into 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 almost clairvoyance, where to position, when to make a move and where openings will emerge.

What Comes Next?

But what now for the recognizable figure of British racing? It won't be simple to step away completely, whether or not Dettori fulfils his expressed wish to take “a few rides in South America, something that he always wanted to do”. This is not, after all, an ambition that he has mentioned previously.

But the calamitous decision to follow tax guidance that led to his dispute with HMRC means that Dettori will not end his career with enough money saved up to kick back and take things easy.

New Role and Opportunities

He has been appointed to a new position as a “global ambassador” with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian's burgeoning Amo Racing enterprise. Dettori told Matt Chapman on At The Races on Friday this was the primary reason for his exit now, as well as being able 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 on Thursday at Del Mar. “He’s an icon, he is a true legend of the sport,” he stated. “When you talk about great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Currys, Lionel Messi and Pelé and people like that, Frankie is that to horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, 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 actually work and he will be collaborate with us closely. He will be involved in all aspects of our operations though he won't serve as a racing manager. He is a global ambassador.”

Reality TV are another option, although earlier outings on Celebrity Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity … often showed a more somber aspect to Dettori’s character, behind the ebullient public persona. In both programs, he was an early casualty due to viewer votes.

It may be that Dettori himself does not really know what he'll do and how he will fill his time once his riding career are over. 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 on the schedule.

One Last Mount

A five-year-old filly named Argine will be his final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event in which he registered his first Breeders’ Cup success back in 1994. Her performance in Japan in Japan suggests that she has something to find to figure, yet few jockeys historically have risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?