'I should have done this ten years ago' - rejuvenated Frankie Dettori has no plans to retire after US move

To understand how well jockey Frankie Dettori has embraced racing and riding in the United States, it only takes one sentence.

"I should have done this ten years ago," Dettori said.

At the age of 53, Dettori has been rejuvenated by riding on a regular basis in America. Europe's most famous jockey came here in December 2022, riding at Santa Anita Park as part of a grand farewell tour.

But nearly two years later, retirement is no longer on the table for the legendary rider. He has a visa that will allow him to stay in the U.S. for three more years and the last thing on his mind is easing into retirement.

Instead, he and his agent, Ron Anderson, are at Saratoga Race Course on a daily basis, hustling to find mounts not just for the upcoming cards but for the Breeders' Cup in November and the Kentucky Derby next spring.

"Things have been going good. I had an amazing time my first year here and I'm truly enjoying the lifestyle here, especially here in Saratoga," said a record six-time winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Enable earned Frankie Dettori a sixth win in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2018Credit: Edward Whitaker

Following up a banner Boxing Day in 2022, when he won three races on the opening day card at Santa Anita, he enjoyed a solid 2023 season, with 29 wins and earnings of $3.7 million that convinced him to keep riding.

"I got an amazing welcome. I didn't know how it would go but everyone has been stupendous," said Dettori, who has amassed more than 275 Grade/Group 1 wins and 500 Graded/Group victories in his legendary career. "They embraced me and gave me confidence to carry on."

This year has been dramatically better with 288 mounts, an increase of about 45 per cent from his total in all of 2023, with 52 wins and earnings of $6.3 million while riding on both coasts and even traveling to Monmouth Park and Penn National for stakes wins.

"I'm doing this for self-satisfaction because I really enjoy it. I have nothing to prove. I've achieved everything. I'm doing it because I love it," he said.

To say he's done well this year would be an understatement. 

Yes, he rode in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, but they did not showcase his abilities as he finished 16th and seventh respectively.

For a better understanding of how brilliant he has been at times, go back to September 28, 1996, when he won all seven races at Ascot. Some 27 and a half years later, he won six straight races on 2024 Santa Anita Derby day and came within a neck of a seventh win when Imagination, his Preakness mount, finished second in the West Coast's premier Run for the Roses prep.

He also won the Santa Anita Handicap with Newgate for trainer Bob Baffert – which Dettori calls "a big feather in his cap" – and has nine 2024 Graded wins (two of them Grade 1s) to his credit after winning two Graded races last year.

"People are realizing he's not here on a vacation," said Anderson. "He's not looking to retire. Mentally he's as good as we get here. He's a super rider and things are going to get better and better. He won three races one day and sounded like a kid who won his first race. The sky is always blue for him."

Frankie Dettori: attended this year's Royal Ascot as a racegoerCredit: Edward Whitaker

Dettori has started off slowly at Saratoga, winning with just three of his first 28 starts with four seconds and four thirds. But Anderson said returning to Europe for his daughter's wedding after the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival cost him some mounts on horses trainers were prepping for Saratoga starts.

"Things got interrupted, but they are picking up now," Anderson said.

For his part, Dettori knew that competing on a daily basis against a jockey colony as deep and talented as the one at Saratoga after making a late entrance on the scene would not be easy.

"I did not have the illusion the other jockeys would roll out the red carpet for me," Dettori said. "Everybody is so ultracompetitive. But when you ride against the best jockeys it brings out the best in you.

"I look forward to racing and competing with these guys every day. It's a new challenge for me. I guess it's what I needed. It makes me feel younger."

The lifestyle at Saratoga has also invigorated Dettori. While he can walk along Broadway in midtown Manhattan unnoticed, on Broadway in a horse haven like the Spa he's a rock star.

"I'm enjoying the whole thing," Dettori said. "The town speaks, eats, and breathes racing; I feel like Tom Cruise walking down the streets. Everyone is calling my name. I love it here. To ride every day with 20,000-plus people watching is a novelty. You don't see that anymore."

And with each of those three wins at the Spa, the accompanying "flying dismount" has been greeted with loud cheers by the appreciative crowd.

"He's got an enthusiasm that's infectious. He's positive and upbeat all the time and people love that," Anderson said. "He's amazing and exciting to be around.

"He loves it here and so does his wife, Catherine. She loves the park. She's been to the track three times and usually she never goes. She and Frankie have fallen into the lifestyle."

As Saratoga winds down, Dettori will be riding at Kentucky Downs. After that, he'll most likely return to New York with occasional trips to Kentucky to prepare for the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar in November.

All the while, he and Anderson will be looking for classic hopefuls and pointing toward the future, which does not include retirement anymore.

"I'm doing this with a smile on my face," Dettori said. "I'm enjoying it. It's a challenge. Who knows what the future may bring, but I have no regrets. I am really enjoying being here and look forward to continue riding here."

This story was originally published by Bloodhorse

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