Dettori, Frankie (1970– )

Italian jockey based in England. He was the first rider to win all seven races at a single race meeting, and has won many major races during his career, including the Derby, the Oaks, both the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas, and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. In 2004 he became the champion jockey in England for the third time.

He rode his first winner in Britain in 1987, two years after arriving from Italy as an apprentice. In 1990, he became the first teenager since Lester Piggott to ride a hundred winners in a season. He gained his first British classic success in the Oaks in 1994 and finished the season as champion jockey with 233 winners. The following year he was again champion jockey with 216 winners. On 28 September 1996, at Ascot racecourse in the UK, he became the first rider to win all seven races at a single race meeting. The cumulative odds reached 25,095/1, giving bookmakers one of their worst days. In 2000, he was awarded an MBE.

He was injured on 1 June 2000 after the small private plane in which he was travelling with fellow jockey Ray Cochrane crashed while trying to land at Newmarket racecourse. Dettori broke his ankle and suffered burns and other bruising, but the injuries did not jeopardize his racing career and he continued to perform his ‘flying dismounts’ from his horse after winning a race.