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It has been a thrilling, magnificent and sometimes rocky path, but this time, it seems Frankie Dettori's mind is made up. The most celebrated rider of the past four decades will effectively head into retirement after the main card during the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar this Saturday, when he will have three opportunities to secure one last top-tier victory to nearly 300 already in his record. Racing may not see a career like his ever again.

An Iconic Figure

Alongside racing great Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck in the last half-century, Frankie Dettori is recognized by pretty much everyone, no surname required. The public knows who he is, even if they possess no interest at all in his profession. In today's world that has been fragmented by digital platforms and online networks, Dettori may well be the final equestrian personality that will ever enjoy such instant name-recognition across a broad swathe of the British population.

His entire career in horse racing, after all, goes 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 more than enough to establish him as the bubbly, irrepressible face of the sport. His last year on the program was 2004, which was also the time when he won the top jockey award for a third and last occasion. For many in the UK, though, he has probably been the top jockey in most years since.

A Hard-Earned Fame

It is, in many ways, a hard-won celebrity, a double-edged reward for incidents both on and off the racecourse which have often pushed Dettori onto the front pages, ever since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied odds of 25,000-1 to ride all seven winners that day.

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

And if everyone loves a winner, they frequently adore a flawed 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 forties, plenty of time for trainers and owners to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, however, suspension in December 2012 was a bridge to a renewed association with trainer John Gosden at Newmarket, and a fresh succession of champions and Classic winners, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The celebrated successes and setbacks have been a crucial element of Dettori’s story, right up until the humiliating admission in March that he was filing for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with HMRC regarding unpaid taxes, a situation that he attempted, and failed, to keep private.

There were numerous turns to the tale, in fact, that it's easy to overlook that without Dettori’s immense, once-in-a-generation skill, there would be no narrative whatsoever.

Early Talent and Instincts

It was clear from his earliest days as a teenage apprentice that he had a natural connection between horse and rider whenever Dettori was in the saddle.

Steeds performed for him, and improved for him. In 1990, he became the first teen since Piggott to achieve 100 wins in a season, and also announced his arrival among the elite with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same day that he would dominate without a loss only six years later. His iconic flying dismount, adopted from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was added to Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the buzz from winning major races has always stayed with him. Nor has the gift of sensing, with almost clairvoyance, where to sit, when to make a move and where openings will appear.

The Future Ahead

But what next for the recognizable figure of UK horse racing? It will not be easy to step away completely, whether or not Dettori fulfils his expressed wish to take “a few rides in South America, which is something he always wanted to do”. It is not, after all, a goal that he had mentioned until now.

However, the disastrous choice to accept the tax advice that resulted in his tax issues means that Dettori will not end his career with sufficient funds in the bank to kick back and take it easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has been appointed to a new position as a “global ambassador” with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian's growing Amo Racing enterprise. He explained to racing presenter Matt Chapman last Friday this was the main reason for his exit now, as well as being able to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities don’t come along, very often. I like the set-up – it's a youthful team with big ambitions,” said the rider.

Joorabchian, himself, was effusive in his compliments for his new ambassador on Thursday at Del Mar. “He’s an icon, he is a true legend in the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When discussing elite athletes such as LeBron James, Currys, Messis and Pelés and similar figures, Frankie is that for horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you know that he has influenced on so many lives worldwide.

“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 all aspects 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 … often showed a more somber aspect to Dettori’s character, 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 once his race-riding days are over. And for at least one more day, he remains an elite professional jockey, concentrating on three rides at one of the globe's prestigious and dazzling events in the calendar.

One Last Mount

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

One last time, cue Frankie?