Frankie Dettori Postpones Retirement: Seven iconic moments from legendary career as he prepares for new US chapter
With the iconic riding career on these shores of Frankie Dettori set to draw to a close at British Champions Day, now is the perfect time to reminisce over some of the never to be forgotten moments the Italian has left racing fans with in his glittering 36-year British career. On Thursday morning Frankie shocked (most of) the racing world in announcing he would in fact ride on next season in the States with the end goal being finding a Kentucky Derby winner.
With 2489 wins in total worldwide, Dettori is now sure to hit the magic 2,500 before retiring, but for now, let's take a trip down memory lane and focus on seven (it had to be seven) of his most iconic moments in the saddle...
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Frankie's Magnificent Seven - 1996
Saturday, September 28, 1996 looked like any other decent Saturday of racing that morning. Ascot was hosting a seven race card and punters and viewers alike were waking up, looking forward to some hot contests and placing their bets. By the close of play, a 25,051/1 accumulator had landed and the bookies were left in a £30 million hole. It was all thanks to the talents of a certain Italian about to become a household name in Britain and break out from a racing celebrity to a genuine sporting superstar.
Dettori headed to Ascot this glorious summer's day as reigning champion jockey and probably the best in the business at the time. He was booked for a ride in all seven contests and plenty liked his chances of racking up a winner or two, which would mean a successful day's work to the vast majority of riders. No one could've predicted he would go through the card in the manner he did, with bookmakers racing for cover after the first few winners and some even being bankrupted on the day by punters riding the crest of the wave. His first ride was on 2/1 favourite Wall Street, who obliged with minimum fuss, before a 12/1 winner was landed in the second on Diffident largely due to Dettori's prowess in the saddle..
Bookies had endured a difficult start with the man of the moment in red hot form, but when he took out the third decisively onboard 10/3 chance Mark Of Esteem the panic really set in. Prices started to crash on Dettori's later mounts as firms faced up the massive accumulator liabilities. When 7/1 top weight Decorated Hero bounded to glory in the fourth race with Dettori punching the air on board, all hell broke loose.
His final three rides were all slashed into favouritism and punters, bookies and the sporting world watched on mouths ajar as Fatefully and Lochangel won the fifth and sixth races with, you guessed it, Frankie on board. The Italian claims to have been celebrating already at this point having achieved history, and saw his last ride aboard 12/1 shot in the morning, now 2/1 favourite, Fujiyama Crest as a free hit. The horse had the burden of top weight and had lost last time out by 43 lengths, but it mattered not as the sporting gods were smiling on Frankie that day and his place amongst racing's immortals was confirmed. A day no one in racing will ever forget. The story for horse and rider had a deliciously happy ending too, as once retired Fujiyama Crest was taken in by the Dettori family as a pet as a thank you for his hand in the Magnificent Seven.
Partnership with Dubai Millennium - 1998-2000
Younger racing fans who have only seen the latter half of Dettori's brilliant career will always associate the charismatic Italian with team Gosden, Juddmonte et al and when asked which is the best horse he has ever sat on will argue between Golden Horn and Enable. However, for those who recall his full riding career and his tremendously successful spell as Godolphin's retained rider, there is only one answer; Dubai Millennium.
A stunning Seeking Gold colt, he was destined for stardom from a very early age and after winning as he liked at Yarmouth in his October 1998 debut for David Loder, Godolphin whacked out the cheque book and he was transferred to Saeed bin Suroor. His 1999 season was one for the ages with a stunning five wins from six starts, his only disappointment coming as favourite at Epsom in the Derby. He more than made up for this with a stunning six length win on heavy ground at Ascot in the QEII, before his crowning glory. He headed over to Dubai where his owner dreamed of winning the Dubai World Cup, and this lad obliged in stunning fashion in early 2000.
He was stunning on the dirt under Dettori and the six length winning margin marked him out as the greatest racehorse of his generation. Just once more he would be seen on track before retiring to stud, but it was another brilliant display in winning the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot by eight lengths. Tragically, his legacy at stud could not be fully completed as he passed away in 2001 after falling sick, but in his sole crop he sired the mighty Dubawi, one of the most important sires of the 21st Century. Dubai Millennium will always be remembered as Godolphin's greatest on track performer and arguably the best Frankie ever sat on.
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Golden Horn's Sensational Season - 2015
Politics aplenty were at play in early 2015, with William Buick deciding to move on from John Gosden's for the Godolphin job Frankie had made his own in the late 90s and early 00s. The relationship between Dettori and Godolphin had deteriorated as the decade turned and he was in the end announced as leaving in late 2012, before his sensational drugs ban that ruled him out of riding at the end of 2012 and just before the 2013 Epsom Derby.
Dettori on his return was at best treading water from 2013 to 2015, but an old friend was ready to land a helping hand in John Gosden. In his early years Frankie had ridden out for Gosden and prior to the season properly starting in 2015 it was announced Frankie was back riding out at Clarehaven. Buick was still in command in terms of choice of rides, but when ante-post Derby favourite Jack Hobbs was purchased by Godolphin he was forced to ride him, leaving a certain Golden Horn without a rider. Frankie stepped up and produced some of the best rides of his career aboard the star of the 2015 season, first taking out the Derby (beating Godolphin into second will have tasted ever so sweet) then the Eclipse and later in the season, the pinnacle which is the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
Golden Horn was a phenomenal middle distance colt and undoubtedly the best horse on the day at Longchamp, but a lesser rider would undoubtedly have panicked from his wide draw and blown his chance. Frankie was at his brilliant best in France and charted a wide but trouble free passage into the famous straight before eating up the ground and passing all his rivals. It was a stunning display from horse and rider that will live long in the memory for flat racing fanatics, and firmly re-established Frankie as back at the very top table.
He's Sure... I'm Not! - 2017
This will probably be the moment on this list that the great man will want to skip over (sorry if you're reading, Frankie), but the iconic line from commentator Richard Hoiles after Dettori celebrated 'winning' the Nunthorpe of 2017 in trademark fashion only to be denied in a photo finish will live in racing folklore forever. Riding Lady Aurelia, the 10/11 favourite and bona fide rocket from the Wesley Ward operation stateside, Frankie's mount blitzed out of the gates, as is customary of American raiders in big sprints, and looked set to repeat her stunning Royal Ascot all the way wins at the furlong pole.
Luke Morris on board Marsha, however, never gave up the ghost and as the American began to tire with the finish line approaching, Morris's mare was just getting rolling. As they hit the line it was impossible with the naked eye to split the pair, but Frankie to the disbelief of the crowd at the racetrack and indeed those watching on television celebrated as though his ride had won snugly. Once a photo finish was called Dettori's face dropped and the longer we were made to wait for the winner to be called, the clearer it became that Lady Aurelia had been chinned.
Richard Hoiles on ITV Racing's exclamation: "Frankie punches the air. He's sure, I'm not!" is one of the iconic lines in racing commentary history and although sadly lady luck was not smiling upon him this day, Dettori's part in the aftermath of this gripping sprint race means it is undoubtedly one of his most iconic moments involved in flat racing throughout his career.
Frankie Four Timer Gives Bookies Horrible Feeling of Ascot Deja Vu - 2019
Mention the name Biometric to the vast majority of racing fans and they will probably draw a blank, unless a serious Royal Ascot anorak. However, ask what the name means to some of the top bookmakers around Britain and Ireland and they will look back fondly and with a massive sigh of relief. On Day 3 in 2019 Frankie Dettori struck fear into every odds compiler around the land that he could do the impossible again, on an even grander stage, by going through the card at Ascot.
Beginning the day with a brilliant win on A'Ali in the Norfolk, Dettori was clearly at the top of his game and once again rode brilliantly to complete a quick fire double on Sangarius in the Hampton Court Stakes. Bookies were cursing their luck at this point but things got serious when the iconic Italian was back in the winners' enclosure for the third time that afternoon when his mount Star Catcher denied favourite Fleeting in the Ribblesdale.
Dettori was three from three, had the favourite in the feature race The Gold Cup and the bookies were officially at panic stations. When he got the right tune out of Stradivarius to claim the Gold Cup at even money, just two races stood in the way of an unimaginable feat. A Magnificent Six.
Dettori's ride in the Britannia Turgenev had opened up an unfancied 25/1, but with the sheer weight of money rolling on with Frankie accumulators the horse was smashed up into 7/2 favouritism before the off. A special atmosphere had gripped Ascot and when Dettori kicked his mount two lengths clear on the run for home, but to racing fans' dismay and bookies' delight he was reeled in by the unfancied 28/1 Biometric, so had to settle for second.
The impossible dream of a repeat of his greatest feat was over, but not before an all time great day at Royal Ascot was etched into history. In typical champion fashion Frankie was fuming with himself post race and said he had gone too soon in the Britannia due to the excitement, but there really will never be another collective holding of breath quite like the one where he made his move on Turgenev to go five from five.
Richard Hoiles' iconic line as he was caught close home 'Turgenev for the punters, Biometric for the bookmakers and it is Biometric who is going to thwart the five timer!' will live on forever.
Enable's last British Hurrah... Sort of! - 2019
"I'm really tearful, because it's the last day she'll be running in England, so it's special. She got a tremendous turn out and produced a tremendous performance." As things turned out, Frankie wasn't quite right when discussing the great mare Enable's emphatic Yorkshire Oaks win in 2019. The superstar Juddmonte daughter of Nathaniel would in fact return to the track in 2020 after heartbreakingly missing out on a historic third Arc, going down in second to Waldgeist a month later at Longchamp as 1/2 favourite.
One would run out of fingers if counting down fantastic Enable performances with Frankie in the saddle, and certainly on the clock her win here on the Knavesmire was nothing more than average by her high standards. However, the scenes that day in Yorkshire when racing fans and media alike thought we were waving goodbye and good luck to the mare as she headed off for her hopefully triumphant Arc swansong will live long in the memory.
The whole career of the wonderful Enable, from her Oaks triumph at Epsom to that final Arc defeat, was a highlight for Frankie in his twilight years in the saddle so picking out just one day is impossible, but the flags in Juddmonte colours waving frantically on a summer's day at York with Enable's long time adversary Magical trailing in behind her stands out as a red letter day for both the horse and Dettori.
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Stradivarius wins his record third Gold Cup - 2020
An all time great stayer and arguably the best of his generation, Stradivarius was synonymous with Frankie throughout his glittering career. Jocked off on a few occasions, Dettori still rode the swashbuckling stayer in most of his races and in the early days as he emerged as the leading staying contender. After winning the 2018 iteration of the race by just half a length from high class French raider Vazirabad, he backed it up by retaining his crown in battling fashion from Dee Ex Bee in 2019. This win came by just a length and although Stradivarius had excelled further at York in particular, many thought he was gettable in the big one at Royal Ascot heading into 2020.
The field was not especially strong lining up against him, yet bookmakers were still offering a tempting 4/5 around the time the race was due off. The argument went that he did not like soft ground, admittedly perpetuated by his trainer in what seemed to be fake news now looking back at his overall record Those who doubted him were left with plenty of egg on their face as the strapping Sea The Stars colt cantered all over his rivals before a gleeful Frankie pushed the button and won the race in a matter of strides.
For a stayer, Stradivarius had a ferocious turn of foot and this was undoubtedly one of his finest hours. Frankie had eulogised over the "economy of effort" Stradivarius had shown in his career until this win at Royal Ascot cemented his place in the pantheon of all time greats. “He’ll never be flash and win by 10 lengths, but he gets the job done,” the jockey said, and Dettori will have never been happier to be completely wrong. Sadly Stradivarius never added that elusive fourth Gold Cup like the great Yeats managed to do, being edged out in both 2021 and 2022 before his well deserved retirement to stud.