Carry on Frankie: Dettori abandons retirement plans

Frankie Dettori has done a U-turn on his much-publicised retirement, just weeks before he was due to hang up his saddle for good.

The world’s most famous jockey is relocating from the UK to the US to launch a new chapter in his extraordinary career.

“It could be three months. It could be three years. I don’t know. It depends how it goes,” he said in confirming rumours about his future to Racing Post.

Dettori said he would be based in California and his immediate goal would be to secure a good ride in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, which takes place in early May.

Goodbye to Britain

Racing Post reported that the 52-year-old still intends to say goodbye to British racing on Qipco British Champions Day at Ascot next Saturday – but he also admitted he could not rule out the prospect of returning for Royal Ascot and other major European racing occasions.

The huge success of an emotional year-long “farewell tour” of his old racing haunts has convinced Dettori to put off the actual retirement moment for the time being.

He told Racing Post: “I didn’t expect this year to be so successful. I feel like I still have to get it all out of my system, so the obvious choice for me is to move full-time to America because I had such a good time there over the winter. I’m going to be based at Santa Anita but I’ll also do a bit of stuff on the international scene in Dubai and Saudi Arabia when available.

“We have been working on this for the last few weeks but I wanted to dot all the Is and cross all the Ts before saying anything. We’ve now sorted things out at home. The kids are settled, our house has been rented and I’ve got myself a visa, which was the big concern. It was a long process to get that but we’ve got it now. We are good to go.”

‘Best years’

Dettori’s longtime ally trainer John Gosden had hinted the three-time British champion jockey was not about to retire following Inspiral’s victory in Newmarket’s Sun Chariot Stakes on Saturday. It was the jockey’s 500th winner in his hometown.

But it was his experience at York’s Ebor festival in August, when he tasted big-race success in the Juddmonte International on the Wednesday before winning the City of York Stakes and Sky Bet Ebor on the Saturday, that made him realise he should carry on riding.

“When I set out my stall to retire, I didn’t expect to have one of my best years for a long time, probably the best I’ve had since 2019. I thought my rides would fizzle out and that I would slowly head towards the sunset. Instead, I’ve been in demand and that has triggered this decision. As a result of the success I’ve had this year I feel I’m not ready to stop yet.”