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The journey has been a thrilling, glorious and at times bumpy ride, yet now, it appears Frankie Dettori's decision is final. The most celebrated jockey of the past four decades will effectively head into retirement following the primary events at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar this Saturday, where he has three opportunities to secure one last top-tier victory to his almost 300 already in his record. Racing may not witness a career quite like it again.

An Iconic Figure

Together with racing great Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck in the last half-century, “Frankie” is recognized by almost everybody, no surname required. The public knows his identity, even if they have no interest at all in what he does. In today's world that has been fragmented by digital platforms and the internet, Dettori could be the last racing figure who will ever enjoy such instant name-recognition among a wide segment of Britain's people.

His entire career in the sport, in fact, dates back to an era when A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in more than 10 million viewers, and his three-year role as a team captain was more than enough to cement him as the bubbly, unforgettable figure of the sport. His final year on the program came in 2004, which was also the year when he won the Flat jockeys’ title for the third and final time. As far as much of the British public, though, he has probably been the champion for many seasons after that.

A Hard-Earned Fame

This is, in many ways, a hard-earned fame, a double-edged reward for incidents on and off the racecourse that have repeatedly propelled Dettori onto the front pages, ever since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame odds of 25,000-1 to ride all seven winners that day.

In June 2000, he was pulled from a fiery crash of a light aircraft by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, after a crash during takeoff where the pilot was killed. When at last ended his quest for a Derby victory in 2007, that also became front-page news.

While everyone admires a winner, they frequently adore an imperfect hero and a return all the more. A half-year suspension following a positive drug test for cocaine could have been the end of many riders in their forties, plenty of time for trainers and owners to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, however, suspension in December 2012 was a bridge to a renewed association with trainer John Gosden at Newmarket, and a new series of champions and classic victors, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Public Highs and Lows

The celebrated successes and lows were an essential part of Dettori’s story, right up until the humiliating admission this past March that he filed for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with tax authorities regarding unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and failed, to keep private.

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

Natural Ability

It was clear from his earliest days as a young apprentice that there was an instinctive rapport with the horses whenever Dettori was on board.

Horses ran for him, and got better under him. 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 a Group One double at Ascot, on the same card that he would charge without a loss just six years later. His iconic flying dismount, adopted 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. Neither has the talent of sensing, with almost clairvoyance, where to sit, when to make a move and where the gaps 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, regardless if Dettori pursues his apparent desire to take “a few rides in South America, which is something I’ve always wanted to do”. This is not, in fact, a goal that he has mentioned until now.

However, the disastrous choice to accept the tax advice that led to his dispute with HMRC indicates that he will not draw down the curtain with enough money saved up to kick back and take things easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has already 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 last Friday this was the main reason for his departure now, as well as being able to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances don’t come along, very often. I appreciate the structure – it's a youthful team with big ambitions,” said the rider.

Joorabchian, himself, was gushing in his praise for his new ambassador at Del Mar on Thursday. “He’s an icon, he is a true legend of the sport,” he stated. “When you talk about great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Messis and Pelés and similar figures, Frankie represents that for horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you notice a statue, you know that he’s made a big impact countless lives across the world.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to amuse audiences, he's here to work and he will working with us closely. He will participate in every area of our operations [but] he won’t be a racing manager. He is a global ambassador.”

Television reality shows is another possibility, though previous appearances on Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity have tended to reveal a moodier side of his personality, beneath the cheerful public image. In both programs, he was an early exit of the public vote.

It may be that Dettori himself does not really know what he'll do and how he will fill his time after his riding career ends. And for at least one more day, he remains a top-level professional jockey, focused on three mounts at one of the most prestigious and dazzling events on the schedule.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old mare called Argine will be his last top-level ride in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event in which he registered his initial Breeders’ Cup win back in 1994. Her performance in Japan in Japan suggests that she has something to find to figure, yet few jockeys in history have ever risen to an occasion like Frankie Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?