Popular Italian jockey Frankie Dettori reverses decision to retire from horse racing
Lord North with jockey Frankie Dettori wins Group 1 Dubai Turf over 1800m (9 furlongs) at the Meydan racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, March 25, 2023. The 52-year-old Italian jockey was set to retire at the end of 2023 but he has reversed his decision and will continue to ride horses primarily in the United States but also in the Middle East. Credit: AP/Martin Dokoupil
LONDON — Frankie Dettori isn't done with horse racing just yet.
The 52-year-old Italian jockey was set to retire at the end of 2023 but has reversed his decision after enjoying a successful farewell season, during which he had winners in the 2,000 Guineas and the Gold Cup at Ascot.
He said those successes “tickled his emotions” and now he is moving to California with his wife, Catherine, to ride at Santa Anita for the rest of the year — and maybe longer.
“How long I continue race-riding overseas and where my American journey takes me, no one can predict,” Dettori said Thursday, "but I welcome the challenge in this new chapter.”
He said his final rides in Britain will be at the British Champions Day at Ascot next week.
Dettori, who has been a jockey since 1987, became a global phenomenon at Ascot when he won all seven races in one day there in September 1996, after which he produced his storied flying dismount.
“It will still be sad for me on Saturday week — I will say goodbye to my fans and my beloved Ascot and a country that has been my life for 38 years," Dettori said, "but I have something more to look forward to.
Elite Power's jockey Frankie Dettori performs his trademark flying dismount after winning the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint over 1200m at the King Abdulaziz racetrack in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, February 25, 2023. The 52-year-old Italian jockey was set to retire at the end of 2023 but he has reversed his decision and will continue to ride horses primarily in the United States but also in the Middle East. Credit: AP/Martin Dokoupil
“It could be three months or three years, I don’t know. It depends how well I do and depends on my body, I just felt I wasn’t ready to stop."
Among his major successes, Dettori has won the English Derby twice, the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas four times each, and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in France six times.
He spent four months in the U.S. around the turn of last year, finishing second in the jockey standings.
He plans to race in the Breeders’ Cup and also at the Melbourne Cup in Australia.
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