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The journey has been a thrilling, glorious and at times bumpy ride, but this time, it seems the famed jockey's mind is made up. The most storied rider of the past four decades is set to enter retirement following the primary events at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar this Saturday, where he has three opportunities to secure one last Grade One winner to nearly 300 on his record already. The sport might not see a career quite like it again.

A Household Name

Together with racing great Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck over the past half-century, Frankie Dettori registers with almost everybody, without needing a last name. The public knows his identity, even if they possess no interest at all in what he does. In a world which has become fragmented by social media and the internet, Dettori could be the last racing figure that will ever enjoy such instant name-recognition across a broad swathe of Britain's people.

His entire career in horse racing, after all, goes back to an era when the show A Question Of Sport often attracted more than 10 million viewers, and a three-year stint as a team captain was sufficient to establish him as the lively, unforgettable figure of the sport. His final year on the program came in 2004, that was also the year when he secured the Flat jockeys’ title for the third and final time. As far as many in the UK, however, he has likely been the top jockey in most years after that.

A Hard-Earned Fame

It is, in many ways, a hard-won celebrity, a double-edged reward for events both on and off the racecourse that have repeatedly propelled Dettori into the headlines, ever since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame odds of 25,000-1 to win all seven races on the card.

In June 2000, he was pulled from a fiery crash of a light aircraft by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, after a crash on takeoff in which the plane’s pilot was killed. When he finally concluded his pursuit for a Derby winner in 2007, that too was front-page news.

While everyone admires a champion, they frequently adore an imperfect hero and a return all the more. A half-year suspension after a failed drug test for cocaine would have been the end of most jockeys in their 40s, plenty of time for owners and trainers to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, though, his 2012 suspension served as a bridge to a renewed association with trainer John Gosden at Newmarket, and a fresh succession of winners and classic victors, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Public Highs and Lows

The public highs and setbacks were an essential part of Dettori’s story, right up until the embarrassing confession in March that he was filing for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with tax authorities regarding unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and did not succeed, to keep private.

There were numerous turns in his story, in fact, that it's easy to forget that without Dettori’s immense, generational talent, there would be no story at all.

Early Talent and Instincts

It was clear from his earliest days as a teenage apprentice that he had an instinctive rapport with the horses when Dettori was on board.

Horses ran for him, and improved for him. In 1990, he was the first teenager since Piggott to reach 100 winners in a season, and also marked his arrival among the elite with two Group One wins at Ascot, on the same day that he would dominate through unbeaten only six years later. His iconic flying dismount, copied from the US legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the buzz from winning major races has never left him. Neither has the talent of knowing, with almost foresight, where to sit, when to make a move and where openings will emerge.

What Comes Next?

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 apparent desire to accept some mounts in South America, something that I’ve always wanted to experience”. It is not, after all, a goal that he had mentioned previously.

But the calamitous decision to accept the tax advice that resulted in his dispute with HMRC means that Dettori will not draw down the curtain with sufficient funds saved up to kick back and take things easy.

New Role and Opportunities

He has been confirmed in a new role as an international ambassador with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian's growing Amo Racing operation. He explained to racing presenter Matt Chapman last Friday this was the main reason for his exit now, as well as being able to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities are rare, frequently. I like the set-up – it's a youthful team with huge goals,” said the rider.

Joorabchian personally, was effusive in his compliments for his new ambassador on Thursday at Del Mar. “He is an icon, a genuine legend in the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When you talk about great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Currys, Messis and Pelé and people like that, Frankie represents that to horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you know that he’s made a big impact on so many lives across the world.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to amuse audiences, he’s here to actually work and he will be working with us closely. He will participate in all aspects of our business though he won't serve as a racing manager. He is an international ambassador.”

Television reality shows is another possibility, though previous appearances on Celebrity Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity … have tended to reveal a moodier side to Dettori’s character, beneath the cheerful public image. On both shows, he was an early exit due to viewer votes.

It's possible that Dettori personally does not really know what he will do and how he will fill his time once his riding career are over. And for at least one more day, he stays a top-level professional jockey, focused on three mounts at one of the globe's prestigious and dazzling events on the schedule.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old filly called 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 in 1994. Her form at home in Japan suggests that she needs to find to figure, yet few jockeys historically have risen to an occasion like Frankie Dettori.

For one final time, is it time for Frankie?