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It has been a thrilling, glorious and sometimes rocky path, yet now, it seems the famed jockey's mind is made up. The most celebrated jockey over the last 40 years will effectively head into retirement after the main card at the Breeders’ Cup in Del Mar on Saturday, when he will have three chances to secure one last top-tier victory to nearly 300 on his record already. The sport might not see a career quite like it again.

An Iconic Figure

Alongside racing great Lester Piggott and perhaps John McCririck over the past 50 years, “Frankie” registers with almost everybody, without needing a last name. The public knows his identity, even if they have absolutely no interest in his profession. In today's world that has been divided by social media and online networks, Dettori could be the last racing figure that will ever enjoy such instant name-recognition across a broad swathe of the British population.

His entire career in horse racing, after all, dates back to a time when the show A Question Of Sport often attracted more than 10 million viewers, and his three-year role as a team leader was more than enough to establish him as the bubbly, unforgettable figure of the sport. His final year on the program was 2004, which was also the year when he won the Flat jockeys’ title for a third and last occasion. As far as much of the British public, though, he has probably been the top jockey for many seasons since.

A Hard-Earned Fame

This is, in many ways, a hard-earned fame, a mixed blessing for incidents on and off the track that have repeatedly pushed Dettori onto the front pages, ever since that memorable day at Ascot in 1996 when he defied massive 25,000-1 odds to ride all seven winners that day.

In June 2000, he was pulled from the burning wreckage of a light aircraft by his fellow rider, Ray Cochrane, following an accident on takeoff in which the plane’s pilot lost his life. When at last ended his quest for a Derby winner in 2007, that also became headline news.

While everyone admires a champion, they often love a flawed hero and a comeback even more. A half-year suspension following a positive drug test for cocaine could have been the finish for many riders in their forties, plenty of time for owners and trainers to seek a younger replacement. For Dettori, though, his 2012 suspension served as a bridge to a revived partnership with John Gosden at Newmarket, and a fresh succession of winners and Classic winners, including Enable, Golden Horn and Stradivarius.

Public Highs and Lows

The celebrated successes and lows were an essential part 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 tax authorities regarding unpaid taxes, a circumstance that Dettori tried, and failed, to keep private.

There were numerous turns to the tale, in fact, that it's easy to overlook that absent Dettori’s immense, once-in-a-generation skill, there would have been no story at all.

Natural Ability

It was evident from the start as a young apprentice that he had a natural connection between horse and rider when Dettori was on board.

Horses ran for him, and got better under him. Back in 1990, he was the first teenager since Piggott to reach 100 winners in one season, and also marked 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, adopted from the American legend Angel Cordero Jr, was added to Dettori’s repertoire in 1994, and the thrill from winning major races has never left him. Nor has the gift of sensing, with something akin to clairvoyance, where to position, when to strike and where the gaps will emerge.

The Future Ahead

But what next for the public face of British racing? It will not be easy 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”. This is not, after all, an ambition that he has mentioned until now.

However, the disastrous choice to accept the tax advice that resulted in his dispute with HMRC means that Dettori will not end his career with sufficient funds saved up to kick back and take it easy.

Fresh Ventures

He has already been appointed to a new position as an international ambassador with the soccer agent Kia Joorabchian's burgeoning Amo Racing operation. Dettori told Matt Chapman on At The Races on Friday this was the main reason for his departure now, as well as being able to finish at the Breeders’ Cup. “These opportunities don’t come along, frequently. I like the set-up – this is a young team with big ambitions,” said the rider.

Joorabchian personally, was gushing in his praise for his new ambassador at Del Mar on Thursday. “He is an icon, he is a true legend of the sport,” Joorabchian said. “When discussing great sportsmen such as LeBron James, Currys, Lionel Messi and Pelés and similar figures, Frankie is that to horse racing. When visiting Royal Ascot, you see a statue there, you realize that he’s made a big impact countless lives across the world.

“He’s not here|“He isn't here} to entertain people, he's here to work and he will be collaborate with us very closely. He will be involved in every area of our business [but] he won’t be a racing manager. He is an international ambassador.”

Reality TV is another possibility, although earlier outings on Big Brother and I'm A Celebrity have tended to reveal a moodier side to Dettori’s character, beneath the cheerful 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 he will fill his time after his race-riding days are over. And for another one more day, he stays a top-level professional jockey, concentrating on three rides at one of the globe's prestigious and dazzling events on the schedule.

The Final Ride

A five-year-old mare called Argine will be his last top-level ride in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the identical event in which he registered his initial Breeders’ Cup win in 1994. Her performance in Japan indicates that she needs to find to figure, yet few jockeys in history have ever risen to an occasion like Lanfranco Dettori.

For one final time, is it time for Frankie?