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It has been an exhilarating, glorious and sometimes rocky path, but this time, it seems the famed jockey's decision is final. The most storied rider of the past 40 years is set to head into retirement after the main card at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar on Saturday, where he has three chances 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.

An Iconic Figure

Alongside Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck over the past half-century, Frankie Dettori is recognized by almost everybody, no surname required. People know who he is, even if they possess no interest at all in what he does. In today's world which has become fragmented by digital platforms and online networks, Dettori may well be the last racing figure that will ever enjoy such instant name-recognition across a broad swathe of the British population.

His entire career in the sport, after all, goes back to an era when A Question Of Sport often attracted over 10 million viewers, and his three-year role as a team leader was sufficient to establish him as the lively, irrepressible face of racing. His last 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 likely been the champion in most years since.

A Hard-Won Celebrity

This is, in many ways, a hard-earned fame, a double-edged reward for events both on and off the track that have repeatedly pushed Dettori onto the front pages, ever since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied odds of 25,000-1 to win all seven races that day.

In June 2000, he was pulled from the burning wreckage of a light aircraft by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, following an accident during takeoff where the pilot lost his life. When he finally concluded his pursuit for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became headline news.

While everyone admires a winner, they often love a flawed hero and a comeback all the more. A six-month ban after a failed drug test for cocaine would have been the finish for most jockeys in their 40s, more than enough time for owners and trainers to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, however, suspension in December 2012 was a bridge to a revived partnership with trainer John Gosden in Newmarket, and a new series of winners and classic victors, such as Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Public Highs and Lows

The public highs and setbacks have been an essential part of his narrative, up to and including the embarrassing confession in March that he filed for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with HMRC regarding unpaid taxes, a situation that Dettori tried, and failed, to keep confidential.

There were numerous turns in his story, in fact, that it can be easy to forget that absent Dettori’s immense, generational talent, there would have been no narrative whatsoever.

Early Talent and Instincts

It was evident from the start as a teenage apprentice that there was a natural connection between horse and rider whenever Dettori was on board.

Steeds performed for him, and improved for him. Back in 1990, he was the first teenager since Piggott to achieve 100 wins in one season, and also marked his arrival at the highest level with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same day that he would charge through unbeaten only six years later. His iconic flying dismount, adopted from the US legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the thrill from winning major races has never left him. Nor has the gift of knowing, with something akin to clairvoyance, where to position, when to strike and where the gaps will appear.

What Comes Next?

But what next for the public face of British racing? It won't be simple to step away completely, regardless if Dettori fulfils his expressed wish to accept some mounts in South America, which is something he always wanted to experience”. This is not, after all, a goal that he has mentioned previously.

But the calamitous decision to accept the tax advice that led to his dispute with HMRC indicates that Dettori will not draw down the curtain with sufficient funds in the bank to kick back and take it easy.

New Role and Opportunities

He has already been appointed to a new position 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. “These opportunities are rare, frequently. I appreciate the structure – it's a youthful team with huge goals,” explained the jockey.

Joorabchian, himself, was effusive in his compliments for his new recruit at Del Mar on Thursday. “He is an icon, a genuine legend in the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When you talk about great sportsmen like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Lionel Messi and Pelés and people like that, Frankie represents that for horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you know that he has influenced countless lives across the world.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to entertain people, he’s here to actually work and he will collaborate with us closely. He will be involved in all aspects of our operations [but] he won’t be a racing manager. He is an international ambassador.”

Television reality shows are another option, although earlier outings on Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity have tended to reveal a moodier side of his personality, behind the ebullient public persona. On both shows, he was an early casualty of the public vote.

It's possible that Dettori personally does not really know what he'll do and how he will fill his time after his race-riding days are over. 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.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old mare named Argine will be Dettori’s final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the same race in which he registered his first Breeders’ Cup success back in 1994. Her performance in Japan indicates that she has something to improve to compete, yet few jockeys in history have ever risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?