Frankie Dettori

Born in Milan on 15 December 1970, it would be fair to say to Lanfranco “Frankie” Dettori was destined to be one of the game’s greatest jockeys. His father Gianfranco was a multiple Group-winning jockey in Italy and was a two-time British Classic winner in 1975 and 1976 alongside other British Group 1 races including the Juddmonte International at York and Eclipse Stakes at Sandown.

His son would arguably go on to better those achievements and he sprung from the back to the front pages of newspapers when winning all seven races on British Champions’ Day at Ascot in 1996, a day that cost the bookmaking industry millions as 25,095-1 accumulators were landed up and down the country. It would turn Frankie Dettori from one of racing’s outstanding jockeys into a celebrity around the world, from having his face on yoghurt brands to becoming a captain on BBC’s ‘A Question of Sport’.

Dettori’s career has not been short of controversy, having admitted to taking diuretics and was suspended from riding for six months in 2012 after taking a substance believed to be cocaine. But despite these misdemeanours, he is known as one of the most popular and greatest jockeys to ever sit on a horse.

His greatest achievements include six Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe victories on board Lammtarra, Sakhee, Marienbard, Golden Horn and Enable (twice) as well as 17 British Classics, seven Ascot Gold Cup successes and 14 Breeders’ Cup races. Dettori is affectionately known for his flying dismounts in the winner's enclosure after victory.

Frankie’s career in the UK started as an apprentice with Luca Cumani, becoming the first teenager to ride 100 winners in a single season since Lester Piggott in 1990. A first Classic success came in 1994 as Balanchine won the Oaks before further victories in 1995 with Moonshell (Oaks) and Classic Cliché (St Leger). He was made retained rider at Godolphin, a partnership that lasted 18 years and helped Frankie jump to the forefront of British sport when winning all seven races on British Champions’ Day in 1996 (see below).

A more recent partnership with John Gosden has reinvigorated the career of Dettori, with horses such as Golden Horn, Cracksman, Galileo Gold and Enable providing the Italian with some Group 1 ammunition to go to war with in recent years. Dettori has rode over 500 Group winners and his sixth win in the Arc with Enable in 2018 was the first time a jockey had won the race on more than five occasions.

His career winners total more than 3,000 and have come in over 20 countries including the Republic of Ireland, USA, Germany, Qatar, Turkey, Japan and Mauritius, as well as the UK.

Saturday 28th September 1996. The day that Frankie Dettori became front page news. It was British Champions’ Day at Ascot Racecourse and although Dettori had a decent set of rides, he admitted before racing that only one of his horses had a good chance of winning. What was to come would change the horse racing world forever. After landing the Cumberland Lodge Stakes on Wall Street, he subsequently took the next three races on Diffident, Mark of Esteem and Decorated Hero.

It was at this point that the racing media started to hint that something special could be in the offing. Gordon Richards had once gone through the six-race card at Chepstow, but this was Ascot. This was Champions’ Day, one of the biggest days in the racing calendar.

Dettori landed the fifth race on Fatefully and the sixth on Lochangel, both horses going off very warm favourites. Now, BBC’s Grandstand coverage had switched back to the racing and the world was watching Ascot.

Fujiyama Crest – a general 12/1 shot on the morning of the race – would go off 2/1 favourite and was a traditional front-runner. Dettori got the fractions perfect and despite the attentions of Pat Eddery’s mount Northern Fleet, he clung on to win by a neck at the finish.

The cumulative SP odds for anyone who backed the seven-fold was 25,095-1, although early prices on the morning of raceday indicated truer odds of 235,834-1.

It cost the bookmakers around £30 million, with punters around the country collecting from small money accumulators.

1. Wall Street – 2/1 (Cumberland Lodge Stakes)

2. Diffident – 12/1 (Diadem Stakes)

3. Mark of Esteem – 100/30 (Queen Elizabeth II Stakes)

4. Decorated Hero – 7/1 (Tote Festival Handicap)

5. Fatefully – 7/4 (Rosemary Stakes)

6. Lochangel – 5/4 (Blue Seal Stakes)

7. Fujiyama Crest – 2/1 (Gordon Carter Stakes)

Fujiyama Crest would end up returning to Dettori after his retirement as a pet horse for his children until he died in 2015 at the age of 23.

At Royal Ascot 2019, there were echoes of that day in 1996 as Frankie won the first four races on Day 3, including the Gold Cup on Stradivarius. He again had the bookmaking industry quaking, but Harry Bentley and Biometric came to the rescue by nailing Dettori’s mount Turgenev – who went 1.36 in running – in the dying strides of the Brittania Stakes.

Dettori might have a few tricky decisions to make in the coming weeks with several Group 1 performers set to clash. In the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot, Enable – who the Italian has ridden to two Arc victories – and Crystal Ocean – who he was on board for his Prince of Wales’s Stakes win at Royal Ascot – look set to lock horns.

Dettori is also set to ride staying superstar Stradivarius in the Goodwood Cup at Glorious Goodwood before a potential tilt at a second Stayers’ Million at York in the Lonsdale Cup.

Epsom Oaks winner Anapurna could also run in the Yorkshire Oaks at the Ebor meeting at York with Dettori onboard, while Commonwealth Cup winner Advertise will surely run in all Group 1 sprint races between now and the end of the season.

Watch out for all of our tips on Grade 1 races at our tipping pages.

According to https://www.celebritynetworth.com/, Frankie Dettori’s net worth is over £14 million, with his total prize money since January 2015 totalling over £22 million.