Portugal Colonial - Frankie Dettori: Racing's great entertainer set for farewell tour

The Italian's flying dismounts, his unabashed display of emotion in victory or defeat, and his association with the likes of two-time Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe champion Enable, gave the sport a rare superstar.

However, having turned 52 on Thursday, it appears he feels he has just one more year left.

It has been quite a ride. At times, it was far from smooth.

His resilience in bouncing back from cheating death in a plane crash in 2000, and a failed doping test in 2012, earned widespread admiration.

"When you are cornered you fight," he said.

Good did come from those two traumatic episodes as he forged close bonds with Enable's trainer John Gosden, and former jockey -- and now his agent -- Ray Cochrane.

Cochrane it was who pulled him from the wreckage of the plane when it crashed at Newmarket on the way to Goodwood racecourse in Sussex on June 1, 2000.

"I was lucky that I didn't die in the crash itself," Dettori told AFP in 2020.

"I broke my leg and I was lucky that Ray managed to drag me out of the plane and then it exploded. The pilot died, so I was lucky twice.

"We've been through something that you can't explain, put into words, the experience. It was very hard to get out of it, it took me two years.

"We hardly ever talked about that (with other people) because it's something that only me and him understand.

"I should have been dead so I have to thank God I am still here."

- 'Bed of roses' -

Gosden rescued him twice.

Firstly in 1993 when Dettori saw a lucrative contract to ride in Hong Kong cancelled after British police cautioned him for possession of cocaine.

"Any combination of jockey and trainer has to be one of total trust and self-belief but also very much about how to deal with difficult times," Gosden told AFP in 2019.

"The trainer has to be reassuring to a jockey if they see them wandering into the wrong areas and I am not talking about him riding work or at the races."

Gosden it was who offered him another lifeline. As the trainer fondly recalled, it was November 11, 2014.

Dettori had had a miserable few years, falling out with racing powerhouse owners Godolphin after 18 years and a six-month suspension for failing a dope test in France.

"He was in freefall and a rather sad two years scraping around for any ride he could get," said Gosden.

"It (being a jockey) is a great way of life but the pole is very slippery. It is not a bed of roses, there are certainly some thorns in it."

Fortunately for Dettori, both Cochrane and Gosden provided the wise counsel that had been lacking when he first achieved super stardom in the 1990s.

"I equate it to a young boxer who had some success and collects a whole set of hangers on," said Gosden.

"They (the hangers on) have a good way of burning through the money and taking you to a lot of the wrong places and when you are young and have a lot of money one has to be wary of that and Frankie was no exception."

Dettori said that winning the 2015 Derby on Golden Horn "was my biggest thrill I ever had on a horse in a race" as at 44 he never thought he would get another chance to win the blue riband.

"I'll never forget when I left (Epsom racecourse) my kids had a big banner saying 'come on daddy, try to win it again'," said Dettori.

The great entertainer will get one more chance to do so in 2023.

P.Queiroz--PC