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The journey has been an exhilarating, magnificent and at times rocky path, but this time, it appears Frankie Dettori's mind is made up. The most storied jockey of the past four decades will effectively head into retirement after the main card during the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar this Saturday, when he will have three opportunities to add a farewell Grade One winner to his almost 300 already in his record. Racing may not witness a career quite like it again.

A Household Name

Together with racing great Lester Piggott and maybe John McCririck over the past 50 years, “Frankie” is recognized by pretty much everyone, no surname required. People know his identity, even if they possess no interest at all in what he does. In a world that has been fragmented by digital platforms and the internet, Dettori could be the final equestrian personality that will ever enjoy such instant name-recognition across a broad swathe of Britain's people.

Dettori’s lifetime in the sport, after all, goes back to a time when the show A Question Of Sport regularly pulled in over 10 million audience members, and a three-year stint as a team captain was more than enough to cement him as the bubbly, irrepressible face of racing. His last year on the show came in 2004, which was also the year when he won the top jockey award for the third and final time. As far as many in the UK, though, he has probably been the top jockey in most years after that.

A Hard-Earned Fame

This is, in many ways, a hard-earned fame, a mixed blessing for events both on and off the racecourse which have often propelled Dettori into the headlines, since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied massive 25,000-1 odds to ride all seven winners on the card.

In June 2000, he was pulled from a fiery crash of a light aircraft by fellow jockey, Ray Cochrane, following an accident during takeoff where the pilot lost his life. When he finally concluded his pursuit for a Derby victory in 2007, that too was headline news.

While everyone admires a champion, they often love a flawed hero and a return even more. A six-month ban following a positive drug test for cocaine would have been the finish for many riders in their 40s, plenty of time for owners and trainers to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, though, his 2012 suspension served as a bridge to a renewed association with John Gosden at Newmarket, and a new series of champions and Classic winners, such as Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Public Highs and Lows

The celebrated successes and lows were a crucial element of Dettori’s story, right up until the humiliating admission in March that he filed for bankruptcy after a prolonged dispute with HMRC regarding unpaid taxes, a circumstance that he attempted, and failed, to keep confidential.

There were so many twists to the tale, in fact, that it's easy to forget that absent his tremendous, generational talent, there would be 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 when Dettori was in the saddle.

Horses ran for him, and improved for him. In 1990, he was the first teenager since Lester Piggott to achieve 100 wins in one season, and also announced his emergence at the highest level with a Group One double at Ascot, on the same card that he would charge through unbeaten only six years later. His iconic flying dismount, copied from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was incorporated into 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 sit, when to strike and where openings will appear.

What Comes Next?

But what now for the recognizable figure of British racing? It won't be simple to finally let go, whether or not Dettori fulfils his apparent desire to take “a few rides in South America, which is something he always wanted to do”. It is not, after all, an ambition that he had mentioned previously.

However, the disastrous choice to follow tax guidance that resulted in his tax issues indicates that Dettori will not draw down the curtain with sufficient funds saved up to relax and take things easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has been appointed to a new position as an international ambassador with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian's burgeoning Amo Racing operation. He explained to Matt Chapman on At The Races last Friday this was the main reason for his exit now, as well as being able to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “Such chances are rare, very often. I like the set-up – it's a youthful team with huge goals,” said the rider.

Joorabchian personally, was effusive in his compliments for his new recruit at Del Mar on Thursday. “He’s an icon, a genuine legend in the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When discussing elite athletes like LeBron James, Currys, Lionel Messi and Pelés and people like that, Frankie is that to horse racing. When you go into Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you realize that he has influenced on so many lives across the world.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to amuse audiences, he's here to work and he will be collaborate with us very closely. He will participate in every area of our operations [but] he won’t be a racing manager. He is a global ambassador.”

Television reality shows are another option, though previous appearances on Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity … have tended to reveal a more somber aspect of his personality, behind the ebullient public image. On both shows, he was an early casualty due to viewer votes.

It may be that Dettori himself does not really know what he will do and how to spend his time after his riding career are over. And for at least 24 hours at least, he stays an elite professional jockey, concentrating on three rides at one of the globe's prestigious and glamorous events in the calendar.

One Last Mount

A five-year-old mare named Argine will be Dettori’s last top-level ride in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event in which he registered his initial Breeders’ Cup win back in 1994. Her form at home in Japan suggests that she has something to find to figure, but few riders in history have ever excelled in big moments like Frankie Dettori.

For one final time, cue Frankie?