When it comes to horse racing, Lanfranco Dettori‘s name is synonymous with excellence. Born in Milan, Italy, Frankie Dettori followed in the footsteps of his father, Italian champion jockey Gianfranco Dettori, by carving out a famous career as a jockey based in England. Throughout his more than 35-year career, he has won 287 Group 1 races, including a remarkable 23 British Classic Race triumphs.

Despite having a long and successful career, Frankie Dettori was recently in the news—not for his achievements in racing, but rather for his unexpected result from the renowned 2023 Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY) awards.

Frankie Dettori moves on with the flow

While on vacation with his wife, Catherine Allen, ahead of the USA move, Dettori was edged by England women’s soccer goalkeeper Mary Earps to win the coveted SPOTY honor. In a video post shared on Twitter(X), he shared, “Morning everyone, just to say thank you, merry Christmas we are immigrating to Los Angeles. Have a good one, ciao!” Allen stood behind him all the while, greeted the audience, and said her bye in the end. The clip was captioned, “‘And they’re off…’ “

Fans anticipated 53-year-old Frankie Dettori would attend the award ceremony, however, he participated in the event via video link and stated, “As people know, I am emigrating to the USA and riding on Boxing Day, so I had to spend time with my family.” After a successful year wrap at the 2000 Guineas, Oaks, and Ascot Gold Cup, he unexpectedly changed his mind about retiring. Despite originally intended to end his career on a positive note, he declared that he would be racing. He made the decision after the Queen honored his service to the sport with a statue placed at the Ascot racecourse.

The career-defining move by the legend

Frankie Dettori addressed his choice to continue racing with regret for the change of heart during his SPOTY interview. After confessing to making a mistake in an interview, he said, “At the beginning of the season, I thought, well, I’m 52 and I want to stop at the top”. Now, the legendary jockey is also thinking about making an appearance at Royal Ascot next year.

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Meanwhile, the question: ‘Whether he’s making a victorious comeback to the British racing scene or starting a new chapter in the United States?’ remains on the air. His Christmas update is a tantalizing preview of what’s to come for the seasoned jockey, and the racing community is keen to see what steps the veteran will take next.

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