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It has been an exhilarating, magnificent and sometimes rocky path, yet now, it appears Frankie Dettori's mind is made up. The most storied rider over the last 40 years will effectively enter retirement after the main card during the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar on Saturday, where he has three opportunities to secure one last Grade One winner to his almost 300 on his record already. Racing may not witness a career quite like it again.

A Household Name

Alongside racing great Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck over the past 50 years, “Frankie” registers with pretty much everyone, no surname required. The public knows his identity, even if they have absolutely no interest in what he does. In a world that has been divided by social media and the internet, Dettori could be the last racing figure who will ever experience such immediate brand recognition among a wide segment of Britain's people.

Dettori’s lifetime in horse racing, after all, dates back to an era when A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in over 10 million viewers, and a three-year stint as a team captain was more than enough to establish him as the lively, irrepressible face of racing. His last year on the show came in 2004, that was also the year when he won the top jockey award for the third and final time. For many in the UK, though, he has likely been the top jockey in most years after that.

A Hard-Won Celebrity

This is, in many ways, a hard-won celebrity, a mixed blessing for events both on and off the racecourse that have repeatedly pushed Dettori into the headlines, ever since the unforgettable afternoon at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame odds of 25,000-1 to ride all seven winners that day.

Back in June 2000, he was pulled from the burning wreckage of a light aircraft 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 winner in 2007, that too was headline news.

And if everyone loves a champion, they often love an imperfect hero and a comeback even more. A six-month ban following a positive drug test for cocaine would have been the finish for most jockeys in their 40s, more than enough time for owners and trainers to find a younger alternative. For Dettori, however, his 2012 suspension served as a bridge to a renewed association with 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 his narrative, up to and including the humiliating admission in March that he was filing for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with tax authorities over unpaid taxes, a circumstance that he attempted, and failed, to keep confidential.

There have been so many twists in his story, indeed, that it can be easy to forget that without his tremendous, generational talent, 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 between horse and rider when Dettori was on board.

Horses ran for him, and got better under him. In 1990, he was the first teenager since Lester Piggott to achieve 100 wins in a season, and also announced his emergence among the elite with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same card that he would charge through unbeaten just 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 thrill from riding a big-race winner has never left him. Neither has the talent of sensing, with almost clairvoyance, where to position, when to strike and where openings will appear.

The Future Ahead

But what next for the recognizable figure of UK horse racing? It won't be simple to finally let go, whether or not Dettori fulfils his apparent desire to accept some mounts in South America, which is something I’ve always wanted to experience”. This is not, in fact, a goal that he has mentioned previously.

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

New Role and Opportunities

He has already been confirmed in a new role as a “global ambassador” with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian’s growing Amo Racing enterprise. He explained to Matt Chapman on At The Races on Friday this was the primary reason for his exit now, as well as being able to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances don’t come along, very often. I like the set-up – it's a youthful team with huge goals,” said the rider.

Joorabchian, himself, was effusive in his compliments for his new ambassador at Del Mar on Thursday. “He is an icon, he is a true legend of the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When discussing great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Messis and Pelés and people like that, Frankie is that for horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you notice a statue, you know that he has influenced countless lives worldwide.

“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 be involved in every area of our operations 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 more somber aspect of his personality, beneath the cheerful public image. In both programs, he was an early exit of the public vote.

It's possible that Dettori himself is unsure what he'll do and how to spend his time once his riding career ends. And for at least one more day, he remains a top-level professional jockey, focused on three rides at one of the most prestigious and dazzling events on the schedule.

One Last Mount

A five-year-old filly named Argine will be Dettori’s last top-level ride in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the same race where he achieved his initial Breeders’ Cup win in 1994. Her form at home in Japan suggests that she has something to find to figure, but few riders in history have ever excelled in big moments like Frankie Dettori.

For one final time, cue Frankie?