Frankie Dettori

Lanfranco Oscar Dettori — son of Gianfranco and Iris Maria — was born in Milan on 15 December 1970. With a father who had been Champion Jockey in Italy thirteen times, it was perhaps inevitable that young Frankie would find his way into the saddle.

His racecourse debut came in Milan on Wednesday, 25 June 1986, riding My Charlotte. It was an inauspicious start: he finished last. Yet just five months later, on 16 November, he rode his first winner — Rif, a mud-lover who battled home on bottomless ground in front of a rain-soaked, near-deserted grandstand.

His first British winner, Lizzy Hare, followed at Goodwood on 9 June the following year, one of eight winners he rode that season. By the close of 1987, his 22 winners had caught the attention of trainer Luca Cumani, who took him on as stable jockey. By 1989, Frankie's progress had brought its first major reward: the Champion Apprentice title, earned on the back of 75 winners. That same year saw him make his Classic debut, riding NC Owen in the St Leger at Ayr.

His breakthrough came the following autumn, when on Saturday 29 September 1990, he steered MarkofDistinction to victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Goodwood — his first Group One success. It proved a landmark season in every sense, as he finished fifth in the jockeys' table with an impressive 141 winners.

The continental stage beckoned next, with Frankie claiming the Deutsches Derby aboard Temporal at Hamburg-Horn in 1991, then adding the French equivalent a year later on Polytain — two Classic victories that announced him as a jockey of genuine European standing.

Back home, 1993 brought the prestigious appointment as retained jockey to Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, and the following year he reached the pinnacle of the British Flat season, becoming Champion Jockey with 233 winners. That 1994 campaign also delivered his first domestic Classic triumph, as Balanchine carried him to glory in the Epsom Oaks.

He retained the Championship the following season with 216 winners, a year that proved equally fruitful in the Classics — Moonshell taking the Oaks and Classic Cliché the St Leger to round off another outstanding campaign.

1996 saw what many people considered his finest performance when, at Ascot on 28 September, he went through the card for an unprecedented 'Magnificent Seven'.

His fortunes changed - but his good luck held - on June 1 2000 when he survived a plane crash with fellow jockey Ray Cochrane in which the pilot died.

Frankie rode his 2,000th career win in 2004 at Ascot aboard Doyen.

His wins in 2005 included the St Leger on Scorpion, French Derby (Prix du Jockey Club) on Shamardal, Irish 2,000 Guineas on Dubawi, and other G1s including Gran Premio del Jockey Club.

He enjoyed another strong season in 2006 with wins in the St Leger on Sixties Icon, Breeders’ Cup Turf on Red Rocks, Dubai World Cup on Electrocutionist, and Prix du Moulin/Jacques le Marois successes.

Frankie finally won his first Epsom Derby in 2007 aboard Authorised. That year he also won the International Stakes, Queen Anne, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Ramonti, and French Oaks (Prix de Diane) on West Wind. 2008 brought success on Raven’s Pass in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita, St Leger on Conduit and the Lockinge on Creachadoir.

Between 2009 and 2011, Frankie enjoyed considerable Group One success, riding mainly for Godolphin. Among his notable victories was the 2011 One Thousand Guineas aboard Blue Bunting. The following year brought another highlight when Colour Vision claimed the Ascot Gold Cup.

In 2013, Frankie took up the retained rider role with Al Shaqab, continuing to pursue quality rides and Group One success across Europe and beyond.

The year 2015 proved to be one of his finest, as Frankie steered Golden Horn to victory in the Epsom Derby — his second triumph in the race. That same year he also captured the Arc de Triomphe and the Irish Champion Stakes, while reaching the milestone of 50 winners at Royal Ascot.

The final decade of Frankie Dettori's career produced some of his most memorable moments. In 2016, he landed the Two Thousand Guineas aboard Galileo Gold, but it was 2017 that truly announced his renaissance — winning the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and the Oaks, all on the brilliant Enable, while also passing the milestone of 3,000 British winners.

Enable continued to write history in 2018, winning a second consecutive Arc, while Stradivarius claimed the Ascot Gold Cup — Dettori's sixth in the race — as he reached 60 Royal Ascot winners. The following year brought more of the same: Stradivarius took a third straight Gold Cup, Enable won the King George, and Frankie rode five winners at Royal Ascot including the Oaks on Anapurna. By 2020, even a season disrupted by COVID couldn't slow him down — Stradivarius secured a fourth Gold Cup, Enable triumphed again in the King George, and his Royal Ascot tally climbed to 70.

The 2021 and 2022 seasons saw him add further Classic glory with victories in the 1,000 Guineas on Mother Earth and the Oaks on Snowfall, followed by a British Champions Sprint win on Kinross. In 2023, his final full British season, he bowed out in style — landing the 2,000 Guineas on Chaldean, a ninth Ascot Gold Cup on Courage Mon Ami, and Classic success with Soul Sister. Rather than retiring outright, he rode at the Breeders' Cup before relocating to California.

His two seasons based in North America proved remarkably productive, yielding 25 graded victories including the 2024 Malibu Stakes and the 2025 Metropolitan Mile, both at Grade 1 level. A fitting full stop came in early 2026 with a farewell tour of South America, where he ended his 40-year career with a double on his final day at Gavea in Brazil — the last of those rides a Grade 1 — retiring at the age of 55 with his legendary status beyond question.