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The journey has been a thrilling, glorious and sometimes bumpy ride, but this time, it appears the famed jockey's decision is final. The most celebrated jockey over the last four decades will effectively head into retirement following the primary events during the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar on Saturday, when he will have three chances to secure one last Grade One winner to nearly 300 already in his record. Racing may not witness a career like his ever again.

A Household Name

Together with racing great Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck in the last 50 years, “Frankie” registers with almost everybody, no surname required. People know who he is, even if they possess no interest at all in what he does. In a world which has become divided by social media and the internet, Dettori may well be the last racing figure who will ever experience such immediate name-recognition among a wide segment of Britain's people.

Dettori’s lifetime in horse racing, in fact, dates 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 racing. His final 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 many in the UK, however, he has probably been the top jockey for many seasons 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 which have often pushed Dettori onto the front pages, ever since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he overcame odds of 25,000-1 to ride all seven winners on the card.

In June 2000, he was pulled from a fiery crash of a light aircraft by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, after a crash on takeoff where the pilot was killed. When he finally ended his quest for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became front-page news.

While everyone admires a winner, they frequently adore an imperfect hero and a return all the more. A six-month ban after a failed drug test for cocaine could have been the finish for most jockeys in their forties, plenty of time for trainers and owners to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, however, suspension in December 2012 served as a bridge to a renewed association with trainer John Gosden at Newmarket, and a new series of winners and Classic winners, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Public Highs and Lows

The celebrated successes and lows have been a crucial element of Dettori’s story, up to and including the embarrassing confession this past March that he filed for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with tax authorities regarding unpaid taxes, a circumstance that Dettori tried, and did not succeed, to keep confidential.

There were numerous turns in his story, indeed, that it can be easy to forget that without his tremendous, once-in-a-generation skill, there would be no story at all.

Early Talent and Instincts

It was clear from his earliest days as a teenage apprentice that there was a natural connection with the horses whenever Dettori was in the saddle.

Steeds performed for him, and improved for him. Back in 1990, he became the first teen since Lester Piggott to achieve 100 wins in one 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 only six years later. His iconic flying dismount, copied from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was added to his routine in 1994, and the thrill from winning major races has never left him. Neither has the talent of sensing, with almost foresight, where to position, when to strike and where openings will emerge.

The Future Ahead

But what now for the recognizable figure of British racing? It won't be simple to step away completely, whether or not Dettori pursues his apparent desire to accept some mounts in South America, something that he always wanted to experience”. This is not, in fact, an ambition that he has mentioned previously.

However, the disastrous choice to accept the tax advice that led to his dispute with HMRC means that Dettori will not end his career with enough money in the bank to relax and take it easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has been appointed to a new position as a “global ambassador” with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian's burgeoning Amo Racing operation. He explained to Matt Chapman on At The Races on Friday this was the main reason for his departure now, as well as being able to conclude at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances are rare, frequently. I appreciate the structure – it's a youthful team with huge goals,” said the rider.

Joorabchian personally, was gushing in his praise for his new ambassador on Thursday at Del Mar. “He is an icon, a genuine legend of the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When you talk about great sportsmen like LeBron James, Currys, Lionel Messi and Pelés and people like that, Frankie represents that for horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you notice a statue, you know that he’s made a big impact on so many lives across the world.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to amuse audiences, he’s here to actually work and he will be working with us very closely. He will participate in every area 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 Celebrity Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity … often showed a more somber aspect to Dettori’s character, behind the ebullient public persona. On both shows, he was an early casualty of the public vote.

It may be that Dettori himself is unsure what he'll do and how he will fill his time once his race-riding days are over. And for at least 24 hours at least, he stays an elite professional jockey, focused on three mounts at one of the most prestigious and glamorous events in the calendar.

The Final Ride

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 first Breeders’ Cup success in 1994. Her performance in Japan in Japan suggests that she needs to find to figure, but few riders in history have ever risen to an occasion like Frankie Dettori.

One last time, cue Frankie?