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| Rowan Anderson |
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Thirty-five seasons at the top is an achievement to be rivalled.
For Frankie Dettori it is all coming to an end following an announcement by the 52-year-old yesterday.
After a career that has spanned close to four decades the master hoop is putting a finish time on what has seen him victorious around the globe with one final season in the saddle.
Announcing yesterday he said he would be calling time on his riding career which has earned him British flat racing Champion Jockey three times and winner of more than 500 Group One races and over 3000 winners in the UK alone, along with an MBE along the way.
"Next year, 2023, will be my final professional year as a jockey," Dettori told media.
"It's something I've been thinking about for a while and what an appropriate day to tell the racing world that it is going to be my finale next year.
"I'm riding Boxing Day in Santa Anita and planning to spend about 10 weeks in California and then I'll make my way back with Dubai and Saudi Arabia in between, to start the season in Newmarket.
With riding in the blood after his father Gianfranco Dettori stamped his name as a prolific winning jockey in Italy, Frankie has been referred to as the greatest jockey currently riding by many.
After being one of Godolphin’s leading jockeys for several of his victories he parted ways with the racing powerhouse at the end of 2012 going it alone but continuing his successes.
On his CV he has won eight Ascot Gold Cups, five Breeders’ Cup Turf races, four Bahrain Crown Prince Cups, six Arc de Triomphe’s, three Hong Kong Cups, and a massive four Dubai World Cups – showing his dominance is international.
The British-based trainer said he would be racing at the Breeders’ Cup in 2023 before he retires and said the decision was a hard one made after speaking with his father.
He said he wanted to go out at the top and while still being booked to mount great horses in great races and did not want his career to decline at the end.
"Where I'm struggling to get rides in the big races, at the moment, I still have good horses to ride, and I want to finish it like that.
"I'll be riding right through, and it'll be my last Guineas, my last Derby, my last Royal Ascot and so on. Then I'll have the final farewell at the Breeders' Cup."
By Rowan Anderson