Frankie Dettori: who is retiring jockey? Age, net worth and wife explained ahead of Epsom Derby 2023

The Italian jockey Frankie Dettori will be taking part in his final Epsom Derby this Saturday (3 June) as he retires from the sport at the end of the year.

Lanfranco, better known as Frankie, was described by the late Lester Piggott as the best jockey currently riding.

As he prepares for his final Epsom event, the jockey spoke to BBC One’s Breakfast programme, saying he hoped the race would not be disrupted by the protests: “most of the people in racing, we actually do it because we love the animals”.

The 52-year-old added: “I don’t really follow the politics, a lot of people have got issues about a lot of things in this day and age.I just hope that things go smoothly on Saturday, that we can get racing without creating any problems for anyone or putting anyone in danger.”

“It’s our biggest race,” Dettori said. “When you start as a jockey, that’s the race you want to win. The Epsom Derby is like tennis players with Wimbledon or Formula One drivers [with] Monaco. It’s the one you want to win.”

Here is all you need to know about the career of Frankie Dettori...

Frankie Dettori’s career

The Italian first gained experience with horses when he was just 12 and a year later he left school to become a stable boy and apprentice jockey. Aged 14, he went to Great Britain where he apprenticed with Luca Cumani in 1985, becoming a stable jockey soon after.

Dettori became the first teenager since Lester Piggott to ride 100 winners in one season in 1990 and his first win came at the age of 16 in Turin. Until 2007, the Epsom Derby had been the only British Classic Race Dettori hadn’t won but that year he would win on the Peter Chapple-Hyam trained Authorised as well as winning the Prix Du Jockey Club, notching a derby double.

In 2012, Dettori was suspended from riding for six months after he was found guilty of taking a prohibited substance which was believed to be cocaine.

He featured on the eleventh series of the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother and made his comeback to racing at the Epsom Derby in May 2013.

By the end of the 2017 season, he had ridden more than 3,000 winners in Great Britain, over 750 more than the next currently active jockey.

He is an eight-time Ascot Gold Cup winner, five-time British Champions Sprint Stake winner, five-time Coronation Cup winner to name just a few and has won prestigious races in Dubai, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Ireland and all over the world. Dettori has won every Group 1 race in the UK, except for the July Cup.

Who is Frankie Dettori’s wife?

The 52-year-old’s wife is named Catherine and the pair have been together for over 25 years. They married in 1997 and have five children together with daughter Ella making her jockey debut in 2021.

Although born in Milan, Dettori lives in Stetchworth near Newmarket, much like many other jockeys and trainers.

What is Dettori’s net worth?

According to Celebrity Net Worth and SportsLens, the Italian jockey is believed to have a net worth of around £14 million, He has made an estimated £153 million in earnings and his best year of earnings came in 2019 when he took home over £7 million in total earnings.

When is the Epsom Derby?

The Epsom Derby will take place on Saturday 3 June with the horses running a route of one mile, four furlongs and ten yards.