“Unreal. Crazy. Nuts. Incredible. Hollywood stuff.”
Frankie Dettori’s reaction after celebrating his farewell to British racing with a fairytale double triumph at Ascot.
The 52-year-old jockey made his last ride in Britain a winning one with an inspired last-to-first victory on King Of Steel in the Champion Stakes.
“Oh, Frankie Dettori, Oh Frankie Dettori”, rang out from the stand as he saluted spectators.
He had earlier sealed an epic triumph on Trawlerman in the opening Long Distance Cup on Champions Day.
Who writes this guy’s scripts? The chapters in his racing story have always felt like a movie plot.
Champion. Magnificent Seven. Plane crash. Success. Drugs ban. Renaissance.
It’s just the most recent one which has proved to be the hardest of all to finish – performing a late U-turn on retirement plans to embark on a spell in the United States from next year.
He said Champions Day at Ascot would be his last riding in Britain and he began his swansong with a captivating victory aboard Trawlerman, which demonstrated just why that change of plan may have been the correct decision.
After 37 years based here, in a career which has yielded more than 3,300 winners, it was one of his most dramatic victories.
He was passed by old rival Ryan Moore on Kyprios in the Long Distance Cup before galvanising Trawlerman, who had hit 999-1 in running on Betfair, to a stirring triumph.
There was more to come. Guiding 3-1 favourite King Of Steel, trained by Roger Varian for football adviser Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing, from an unlikely winning position, to beat Via Sestina in the day’s feature race.
Another memorable moment, another flying dismount.
With horse racing the second biggest spectator sport in Britain behind football, there are few sports personalities who have been seen live by so many people over the last four decades, and he had one more chance to milk the applause.
No-one in racing can make the crowd crackle like Frankie. Whether it’s punching the air, jumping through the air, kissing his horse, kissing the camera or blowing kisses to spectators.
“My head is completely full of emotions. I’m speechless,” he said, before speaking a little more.
“The crowd got the horse over the line. I’ve been riding at Royal Ascot for over 30 years but I’ve never heard an atmosphere like it. It was off the charts, crazy, like Wembley Stadium.”
He nearly had a treble – just beaten into second in the Champions Sprint Stakes on favourite Kinross by 40-1 outsider Art Power, ridden by David Allan for trainer Tim Easterby.
Dettori was fifth on Free Wind in the Champion Fillies and Mares Stakes, as 22-1 shot Poptronic won under Sam James for trainer Karl Burke.
And he finished 10th with Chaldean in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes where French challenger Big Rock was an impressive six-length winner.
The three-time champion jockey’s British goodbye came at the course where he claimed his ‘Magnificent Seven’ in 1996 – all seven winners on the card at odds of 25,000-1.
The statistics tell only one aspect of his tale – 281 wins at the top Group One level and victories in 24 countries.
Current champion jockey William Buick was not born when Dettori rode his first winner, while top apprentice Billy Loughnane’s father is younger than the Italian.
Aside from the longevity and partnerships with equine greats such as Dubai Millennium, Golden Horn, Stradivarius and Enable, he has shown an outstanding capacity for recovery.
Dettori survived a plane crash which killed pilot Patrick Mackey in 2000, recovered from a high-profile split with powerful owner Sheikh Mohammed in 2012 and a six-month ban after testing positive for cocaine.
“Nobody’s had a perfect life. I’ve had my ups and downs. I’ve tried to be very resilient, strong, to fight back, and have a smile on my face,” he told BBC Sport.
John Gosden, a mentor who trains Trawlerman with son Thady, said: “When he’s at his peak, there’s no greater and he lets the crowd carry him.
“He operates on that enormous energy. He’s a fabulous talent but Alex Ferguson would’ve found him hard to manage at times.”
Dettori had announced in December 2022 his intention to retire at the end of this year and his farewell tour has not enamoured everyone – critics seeing it as an extended marketing opportunity that has boosted the jockey’s coffers.
But his value to racing as a crossover star who has transcended the sport cannot be overestimated.
He once presented Top of the Pops, was a team captain on A Question Of Sport and took part in Celebrity Big Brother.
Among those raising a glass to the rider were racegoers Tirion Yeoman, 40, and Jaanika Hanslip, 38, on their first visit to Champions Day.
“It’s a privilege to be here. Frankie is a racing icon, a personality – full of vigour and determination,” said Tirion, from Bournemouth.
Actual royalty was on hand with racing royalty as Queen Camilla watched a new sculpture of Dettori on horseback being unveiled. He must be good – this is the second statue of him at the Berkshire course.
You could have forgiven a few tears but Dettori said: “I’m too happy to cry.”
This still may not be the final furlong. Bookmakers make him an odds-on shot to be back at Ascot for the Royal meeting next year.
For now, he will head for races in the United States, Melbourne and Hong Kong before an extended stint based in the United States from the start of next year.
Little time to relax then before next stop California. One racing chapter ends, and perhaps the last one begins. Frankie goes to Hollywood.
