Dettori exits stage and heads west with adoring crowd wanting more

By James Toney at Ascot

Relax said Frankie and then away he flew, his timing, as ever, impeccable. And now … Hollywood.

Too often in racing heart triumphs over head without success and during a rollercoastering career, Frankie Dettori has sometimes battled his demons with better angels too, which is perhaps why he is loved so much.

However, sometimes, just sometimes, it pays to cross your fingers, whisper a prayer and just believe.

The absence of racing’s undisputed greatest showman, who has graced the stage for 36 years and counting, will be heavily felt.

Dettori, the most famous man on a horse since John Wayne, may be swaggering west to in a bid to crack America but the void he leaves behind in the country he has made his home is impossible to fill.

But as farewells go at Qipco British Champions Day, Dettori was word perfect in following the fairytale script.

The only thing he didn't deliver was the odds-on price bookmakers had slapped on there being tears - he claimed he was just too happy to cry.

First he delivered Trawlerman to a brilliant victory in the Long Distance Cup and then, in his last race on British soil, guided King of Steel from first to last in a flash of furlongs in the showpiece Champions Stakes.

It was a race you’d need to watch again and again to understand just what a sublime performance it was from the man in the saddle, a jockey who throughout his career has repeatedly found a way to win from improbable positions.

Under dank and leaden skies on a chilly early autumn afternoon, it was Dettori who brought the flash of colour and warmed the cockles of his adoring Ascot fans, who floated home disbelieving of yet another masterclass from their departing hero.

The A-lister got his winning ovation - and certainly left them wanting more, his remarkable 280th Group One success won't be forgotten quickly by those lucky enough to witness it.

"My emotions are all over the place, I can’t believe it," he said.

"The crowd got this horse over the line. I was doing my best on top but the feeling that I got was incredible; thanks to all of you, you made me win this race and it’s fantastic.

"I don’t know how to feel at the moment, I don’t know if it’s real or not, it was incredible, a Hollywood script.

"It is very hard to explain what I’m feeling now. I had the same surreal moment when I won my first Group One with Mark Of Esteem, when everything went dark, there’s a feeling that, ‘this can’t be right’.

"I thought I would cry, but I’m too happy to cry, to be honest with you. I didn’t expect it – it’s fantastic and what a day.

“The first race was mad; this was another level, to be honest with you. It was incredible – everyone was cheering for me. This was my last race, so they were all up for it, it was amazing.

"After the race, people were singing, ‘Oh, Frankie Dettori!’. That’s one thing I’ll miss and I can’t take to America with me – I’m fairly new over there.

"I wanted to finish at the top and I can’t be more at the top than that. I’m very proud of my career and this year, it’s been phenomenal. Can I go and have a beer now?"

Cheers but no tears, apart from the bookies, left blubbering after taking one last bashing at the hands of Dettori's 27-1 double. It wasn't the 'Magnificent Seven', the time he rattled flawlessly through the card in 1996, but it was still pretty special.

He now heads to Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup and Australia, where he hopes for a ride in the Melbourne Cup, the biggest absence in the 52-year old's groaning resume of big race wins.

Then California beckons where he'll move with wife Catherine to Los Angeles, his ambition to find a horse to win the Kentucky Derby next May.

And few will begrudge Dettori his American dream or bet against him realising it under the spires of Churchill Downs.

However, in the UK - where it all began in 1987 when Lizzy Hare scored a success under a 16-year-old Italian, then known as Lanfranco - this is it. Unless Dettori is tempted back to add to his tally of 81 Royal Ascot winners next summer.

"I go to Santa Anita on Wednesday. I’ll regroup, go to the States, and like I said, I’m moving there for good," he added.

"At the moment I’m focusing only on my American adventure. I’ve got to make myself well known there and be there every day. I have no plans to come back to England."

So farewell Frankie, now for some California dreamin'.