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The journey has been an exhilarating, magnificent and sometimes rocky path, but this time, it seems the famed jockey's decision is final. The most celebrated rider of the past four decades is set to enter retirement after the main card at the Breeders’ Cup at 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 like his ever again.

An Iconic Figure

Together with Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck over the past 50 years, “Frankie” is recognized by almost everybody, no surname required. The public knows who he is, even if they have no interest at all in his profession. In today's world that has been fragmented by social media and the internet, Dettori may well be the last racing figure who will ever enjoy such instant brand recognition among a wide segment of Britain's people.

Dettori’s lifetime in the sport, after all, goes back to an era when A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in more than 10 million audience members, and a three-year stint as a team leader was sufficient to cement him as the bubbly, irrepressible face of the sport. His final year on the program was 2004, which was also the year when he won the Flat jockeys’ title for the third and last occasion. As far as much of the British public, however, he has probably been the top jockey in most years since.

A Hard-Won Celebrity

It is, in many ways, a hard-earned fame, a mixed blessing for events both on and off the racecourse which have often pushed Dettori onto the front pages, ever since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame massive 25,000-1 odds to win all seven races on the card.

Back in June 2000, he was pulled from the burning wreckage of a light aircraft by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, after a crash during takeoff in which the plane’s pilot lost his life. When he finally concluded his pursuit for a Derby winner in 2007, that too was front-page news.

And if everyone loves a champion, they frequently adore an imperfect hero and a comeback all the more. A half-year suspension after a failed drug test for cocaine could have been the finish for many riders in their 40s, more than enough time for trainers and owners to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, though, suspension in December 2012 was a bridge to a revived partnership with trainer John Gosden in Newmarket, and a fresh succession of winners and classic victors, such as Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Ups and Downs

The celebrated successes and lows were a crucial element of Dettori’s story, up to and including the embarrassing confession this past March that he filed for bankruptcy following a long-standing disagreement with HMRC over unpaid taxes, a situation that he attempted, and did not succeed, to keep confidential.

There have been numerous turns to the tale, in fact, that it's easy to forget that without Dettori’s immense, generational talent, there would have been no story at all.

Natural Ability

It was evident from his earliest days as a young apprentice that there was an instinctive rapport between horse and rider whenever Dettori was on board.

Horses ran for him, and improved for him. In 1990, he was the first teenager since Lester Piggott to reach 100 winners in a season, and also marked his emergence among the elite with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same day that he would dominate through unbeaten just six years later. The famous flying dismount, copied 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 always stayed with him. Nor has the gift of sensing, with something akin to foresight, where to sit, when to strike and where the gaps will emerge.

What Comes Next?

But what now for the public face of British racing? It will not be easy to finally let go, regardless if Dettori fulfils his apparent desire to accept some mounts in South America, something that he always wanted to experience”. It is not, in fact, an ambition that he has mentioned previously.

But the calamitous decision to accept the tax advice that led to his tax issues means that he will not draw down the curtain with sufficient funds saved up to relax and take it easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has been confirmed in a new role as a “global ambassador” with the football super-agent Kia Joorabchian's burgeoning Amo Racing enterprise. He explained to racing presenter Matt Chapman on Friday this was the main reason for his exit now, as well as being able to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances are rare, frequently. I appreciate the structure – this is a young team with huge goals,” said the rider.

Joorabchian personally, 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, Currys, Messis and Pelés and similar figures, Frankie is that for horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you realize 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 very closely. He will participate in all aspects of our business [but] he won’t be a racing manager. He is an international ambassador.”

Reality TV are another option, although earlier outings on Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity … have tended to reveal a more somber aspect to Dettori’s character, behind the ebullient 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'll do and how to spend his time once his riding career are over. And for at least one more day, he stays an elite professional jockey, concentrating on three mounts at one of the most prestigious and glamorous events in the calendar.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old mare named Argine will be his final Grade One mount in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event where he achieved his first Breeders’ Cup success in 1994. Her form at home indicates that she needs to improve to compete, but few riders in history have ever excelled in big moments like Frankie Dettori.

For one final time, cue Frankie?