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Frankie Dettori announces he will retire at the end of the 2023 season… with the world’s most famous jockey to bring his glittering career to an end at next year’s Breeders’ Cup meeting at Santa Anita in November
- Frankie Dettori has announced his retirement from horse racing after 35 years
- The 52-year-old said his family were ‘very supportive’ of his retirement decision
- He will continue racing until the end of 2023 and hopes to ‘finish on a big note’
- Dettori has already ridden over 3,000 winners in an illustrious career
- In 1996, Dettori rode all seven winners on Champions Day at Ascot
- He is widely considered to be among the greatest jockeys of all time
The career of one of racing’s greatest ever Flat jockeys will come to an end following one final season after Frankie Dettori announced that 2023 will be his last in the saddle.
Dettori had dropped hints that his days in the Weighing Room were coming to an end but he made the announcement official two days after his 52nd birthday.
The Italian-born rider will spend 10 weeks riding at Southern California track Santa Anita from Boxing Day before returning to Britain via the Dubai racing season for one final shot at the big British meetings including his beloved Royal Ascot.
Racing legend Frankie Dettori has announced he will retire from the saddle at the end of 2023
The Italian shocked racing fans on Saturday afternoon by announcing next year will be his last
His last day riding in Britain is likely to be on British Champions Day at Ascot in October while his final day as a professional jockey will be played out back at Santa Anita in November for the Breeders’ Cup, another track and fixture that is close to his heart.
Dettori said: ‘It has been a very difficult decision because my heart wants to carry on riding but I have to use my brain even though I haven’t got much of it!
‘I have just turned 52. I want to stop at the top and be competitive enough to do myself, my owners and my horses justice.
‘You have to face reality. I am not as good as I was when I was 35. As you get older, you are not as supple or as strong.
‘I want to finish with my best powers. I think I am still good enough to compete with the best at the moment. I feel like I am at the top at the moment but well past my sell-by date!
‘Look at (Cristiano) Ronaldo, he was playing one minute and on the bench the next. I don’t want to end up like that where I am struggling to get rides in big races.’
Dettori said it had helped his decision that he looks to have a strong set of rides for his final campaign.
The 52-year-old’s flying dimsount celebration has been a fixture of racing for over 30 years
Chaldean, the Andrew Balding-trained colt on whom he won the Dewhurst Stakes, is 8-1 third favourite for the 2,000 Guineas while unbeaten Commissioning, the John and Thady Gosden-trained winning of the Fillies’ Mile, is 6-1 second favourite for the 1,000 Guineas.
Dettori, who made the announcement on ITV Racing, admitted his final lap of the racing circuit will be emotional.
He added: ‘The Weighing Room is a capsule that it timeless – you never feel old. But the reality is I am old, I have to give up.
‘It will be exciting but torture saying farewell to what has been 35 years of my life. But I have made the decision and am sticking to it.
‘I am trying to look at it in a positive way and make it a celebration.’
He is widely considered to be among the greatest jockeys of all time
Probably influencing Dettori’s decision was the fact it comes after what could best be described as a roller-coaster year, which included a brief split from his boss and long-time friend John Gosden after the pair endured a torrid Royal Ascot.
The partnership for Dettori with the Gosden stable is crucial and he will be aware they would have decisions to be made for the good of their elite stable as to who was their main rider.
Better to leave on your own terms than an undignified exit after outstaying your welcome.
What is undoubtedly true is that Dettori is irreplaceable for British Flat racing.
Dettori said he expected to finish his British racing career at Ascot or Newmarket next year
A genius with a unique style in the saddle, Dettori was also a one-man PR operation for the sport which goes far beyond his achievements including the Magnificent Seven when uniquely he rode all seven winners at Ascot in 1996.
Away from the sport its most recognisable face has appeared on TV as a captain on the BBC’s Question of Sport, presented Top of the Pops and appeared in Celebrity Big Brother.
There is also the trademark Dettori flying dismount.
The last chance to see it will be next year before the most engaging jockey of his generation is finally grounded.
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